


i dare you (not to fall in love with me)

by bapaldeul



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, and daniel loves jihoon, jihoon loves daniel, mentions of phobias and other stuff, more tags added later, nerve!au, not ongwink i promise even tho the first chap looks like it, panwink are stepbrothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-13 00:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bapaldeul/pseuds/bapaldeul
Summary: nerve au in which jihoon meets the top player kang daniel convinces him that he doesn't need an online dare game to feel like he's a winner.





	1. game start!

**Author's Note:**

> this entire work was inspired from the movie 'Nerve' :D
> 
> i'm trying something a little different from my usual style? I guess?
> 
> i might have gotten too carried away with the 8k first chapter but yes please give me lots of comments and feedback when you finish reading! i appreciate all of you so much <3

Jihoon is tired, and in need of money.

 _A lot_ of money.

No, he’s not in some sort of trouble. No illegal stuff, and definitely no drugs. In fact, anyone who knows Jihoon knows he probably has the cleanest student record in the college. He doesn’t try to be goody two shoes – he’s just never had any interest in breaking the rules. 

 

 

(He thinks the worst thing he’s ever done is used his younger stepbrother’s toothbrush on accident one night and never telling him about it. 

After all, doesn’t everyone mix up toothbrushes with their siblings’ at least once?)

 

 

“So, if you’re not in any trouble, which I highly doubt.” Woojin, Jihoon’s roommate and friend, asks while lazing around on his bed with his phone in his hands, “Then why the hell do you need so much money?”

Jihoon chews on his bottom lip, knowing better than to lie to Woojin.

“Oh my god,” Woojin suddenly gasps and puts his handphone down before staring at Jihoon in absolute horror. “Did you actually do something illegal for once?”

“What?” Jihoon panics. “No- idiot. No, it’s not about me. It’s my mom, and my stepdad. His debt collectors came to bother her the other day.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

To begin his long story, Jihoon’s mother has as much luck with men as Jihoon does.

Unfortunately, that means none. 

His first dad, or his real dad, left when Jihoon was barely three, leaving his mother to raise him on her own. When she met Jihoon’s stepdad (another asshole, Jihoon notes), he’d thought everything was going to get better. Unfortunately, he’d bolted too when his debt collectors from Taiwan (Taiwan, for fuck’s sake, Jihoon thinks) came knocking on their door, leaving his son and hundreds of thousands of debts for Jihoon’s mother to care for.

Jihoon hated Guanlin at first. The sight of the younger made his blood boil. He was a reminder of why Jihoon had to work two part-time jobs and his mother had to bend her back to clean the office hallways of a company down the road 14 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“You’re a curse, you know that?” Jihoon said out of spite one day to Guanlin after he’d found his mother secretly crying in her room.

Guanlin was fifteen, and not well versed in Korean. Yet, Jihoon knew the hate and fury in his eyes transcended the language barriers between them. That very night, Guanlin ran away from home.

Jihoon’s mother was furious. And worried out of her mind.

She ran out of the house immediately after noticing that Guanlin was missing, and cried again when she returned empty-handed. She called the police, and they found Guanlin shivering in the cold, near the park two hours later.

When Jihoon saw his mother hugging Guanlin tightly in her arms that night, he realised something. His mother never saw Guanlin as her stepson or a curse from her ex-husband. He was never a burden to her, and Jihoon was in the wrong for thinking so.

Slowly, Jihoon began to accept Lai Guanlin. The boy did have his charms as well. 

“Hyung,” Guanlin said to Jihoon one day, in that same annoying voice Jihoon came to accept as well. “Where did Dad go? He hasn’t come home in a long time.”

Jihoon didn’t know how to reply. Was it too cruel to tell a child that his father had left him without a second thought just to escape his crippling debt?

“He’s working,” Jihoon answered Guanlin without looking up from his textbook. “In a place very, very far away. You won’t be able to see him for a while now.”

Guanlin’s lips formed a natural pout. He seemed to be thinking hard about something.

“Okay,” Guanlin simply said in reply. “At least hyung’s here, so I don’t feel too lonely. Hyung, what are you studying? Is it math? I love math.”

All his incessant questions, all his strange eating habits that Jihoon had to work twice as hard to support – Jihoon accepted all of that.

After all, Guanlin had no one else in this world to turn to. Jihoon and his mother were his only family left.

Jihoon decided that he would be the one to protect his family from any more harm. And that included Lai Guanlin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Oh,” was all Woojin said to fill the silence between them. Jihoon had told Woojin about their predicament before, he just never mentioned exactly how much they owed the debt collectors.

“Fuck, that sucks so fucking much,” Woojin adds, to which Jihoon responds with a soft hum. 

For the past few months, Jihoon has managed to keep the debt collectors out of Guanlin’s and his mom’s side from the money he’s been earning from his two jobs. When he returned home for the weekend last week, he’d found out from Guanlin that they were knocking on their door again, and demanding their payment earlier.

“Any ideas?” Jihoon prompts his friend. Woojin is no badass by any means, he’s just attended a few more parties and drank a lot more with many more strangers than Jihoon has. So, he figures, Woojin must have more ideas than he does.

“Maybe you could ask Ong Seongwoo to be your sugar daddy.”

Jihoon almost chokes on air. He sends a pillow flying to the other end of the room, and makes sure it hits Woojin right on his face.

“I’m serious,” Woojin groans, sending the pillow back to Jihoon, which he catches perfectly. “He won’t stop asking me to hook you two up.”

“If you have any ideas that doesn’t involve me possibly landing up in jail or interacting with Ong Seongwoo, let me know,” Jihoon concludes. He wills himself off his bed, his shift at the college café starts in 10 minutes, and he can’t really afford to be late.

“I have an idea!” Woojin suddenly yells, but when Jihoon looks at him, his face falls. “No, forget it. You wouldn’t like it.”

Jihoon narrows his eyes at Woojin, “What? Just tell me. Don’t leave me hanging.”

“No, forget I ever said that. It’s too dangerous,” Woojin waves Jihoon away dismissively. 

Jihoon could continue pestering Woojin for what he’s trying to say, but he really needs to get to the café. He packs his bag, puts on a fresh t-shirt he finds in his closet and waves goodbye to Woojin.

“No, but really. You should consider the sugar daddy option. For the love of God and me, please talk to Seongwoo hyung.”

“You, me and the whole school knows he’s just trying to get into my pants. I told you, I’m not interested. See you later!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ong Seongwoo. Also known as the bane of Jihoon’s existence. 

Okay, maybe he wouldn’t go that far. 

_But still._

Ong Seongwoo was only one of those guys. You know, one of those guys that laugh a little too loudly at an unfunny joke just to make sure their voice is heard. One of those guys that wears the school’s football team jersey a little too much. One of those guys that could get anyone he wanted.

Jihoon knew Seongwoo had his eye on him ever since he’d visited Woojin at one of his soccer trainings. He’d be a fool if he couldn’t notice a tall and lanky salivating dog following him around the entire week after.

Everyone in school knew Park Jihoon was Ong Seongwoo’s.

Not in that way. Oh, God forbid anyone to ever think that he and Ong Seongwoo would ever end up that way.

It was just an unavoidable fact that Ong Seongwoo was also one of those guys that made sure everyone knew that Jihoon was his to chase, and his only.

If it was irritating at the beginning, it was full blown annoying now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I’d like the cute waiter over there to take my order, if that’s fine,” Seongwoo’s obnoxious voice rings throughout the entire café, drawing looks from other customers. Jinyoung, Jihoon’s colleague and friend, shoots Jihoon an apologetic look that says, ‘sorry bro, can’t help you this time’ and Jihoon sighs.

“What can I get for you today?” Jihoon says, as dead-panned as possible. He keeps his eyes glued onto his notepad although his manager specifically reminds him to ‘always look customers in the eye and smile’.

Seongwoo however, remains unbothered. Jihoon has to give it up for Ong Seongwoo sometimes. If he was held at gun-point and asked to give Seongwoo a compliment, he would say that Seongwoo was persistent.

 

 

And if that wasn’t enough, he would take the bullet.

 

 

“Just the usual,” Seongwoo smiles. “A black coffee. And maybe a cake? What do you think, should I get a cake today, Jihoon-ie?”

Jihoon sighs, and makes sure his manager is out of earshot when he says, “You want to know what I think you should get?”

When excitement flashes across Seongwoo’s eyes; like he thinks Jihoon is actually trying to have a proper conversation with him, Jihoon doesn’t feel the least bit guilty when he replies, “I think you should get out of here and stop bothering me.”

A loud laugh rises from Seongwoo’s throat, which irritates Jihoon even more. 

“Why? You don’t think I belong here?” Seongwoo pouts, obviously enjoying how much fun he’s having with Jihoon.

“No, not really. You’d rather much fit into the greasy burger joint down the road.”

Jihoon mentally pets himself on the back for thinking up that one. It visibly shocks Seongwoo, then the arrogant smile returns to his face.

“I want to talk to you later. What time does you shift end?” Seongwoo asks nonchalantly as he returns the menu to Jihoon’s waiting hands.

“I’m afraid you’re out of luck today, and all the other days that follow,” Jihoon flashes Seongwoo the fakest smile he can manage because his manager just happens to walk past his table then. “A black coffee, got it.”

Jihoon is about to walk away when he feels a strong grip on his shoulder. He shivers when he feels a hot breath down the back of his neck.

“I know you need money. I have an idea.”

Jihoon quickly turns around and distances himself from the other boy. He doesn’t even have to wonder how Seongwoo knows about his financial emergencies. Either Woojin sold him out, or Seongwoo was a creepy stalker, and he isn’t sure which one he prefers.

He looks around to make sure no one is listening in and says, “If it involves me getting into bed with you, you can forget it. I have my pride to keep.”

“No beds,” Seongwoo assures Jihoon, and he adds, “And nothing illegal.”

Jihoon purses his lips. He absolutely hates the idea of interacting with Ong Seongwoo, but he does have a debt to repay. Besides, Woojin will kill him if he doesn’t give Seongwoo a chance.

“6pm, in my room. Don’t be late. I’m giving you fifteen minutes, and you’re leaving after,” Jihoon says, which satisfies Seongwoo.

“I thought you said no beds,” Seongwoo grins. If Jihoon could, he would slap the shit-eating grin off Seongwoo’s face right now. But he’s working and he has a spotless student record to maintain, so he just sighs and walks away. 

He makes sure Jinyoung brings the black coffee to Seongwoo after.

 

When there’s a knock on Jihoon’s door that night, he grudgingly goes to open it. Of course, Seongwoo is there. The only good thing is that he’s no longer in that stupid soccer team jersey.

_(We get it, you’re a jock.)_

He’s wearing a suffocating cologne too, which makes Jihoon grimace at the thought of his and Woojin’s shared room smelling like Ong Seongwoo after.

“Hi,” Seongwoo greets Jihoon. 

“What are you waiting for? Get in,” Jihoon says, and locks the door once Seongwoo steps into the room. 

“You must like reading,” Seongwoo observes, letting his fingers trail over the numerous books on Jihoon’s study table.

“Um,” Jihoon interrupts Seongwoo, “Not to be mean. But I’m not here to listen to you flirt with me, I’m not interested in you. At all. In case I wasn’t being clear before, let me say it now. I am not interested in you, Ong Seongwoo.”

He wonders if he’s being too harsh.

“That’s okay,” Seongwoo turns back to face Jihoon. “I enjoy a good challenge.”

It’s no use trying to outtalk Seongwoo, so Jihoon checks the time on his handphone and says, “You were 5 minutes late. You just spent 2 minutes uselessly flirting. I’ll do the math for you, you have 8 minutes left to tell me about your suggestion.”

Seongwoo seems to finally come to his senses. Or maybe he finally realises that Jihoon is not fucking around.

“Have you heard of Nerve?”

“Nerve?” Jihoon repeats after Seongwoo, wondering if this is some sort of cringey jock innuendo. “The little things in our bodies? Not a science guy, but yeah, I’ve heard of that kind of nerve.”

Seongwoo cracks a small grin and shakes his head.

“No, silly. The online dare game, Nerve. I take it you’ve never even heard of it.”

Damn it, Jihoon hates when Seongwoo is right.

“You’re right. I have no idea what that is. How is some game we used to play in primary school supposed to earn me some quick cash?” Jihoon replies.

Seongwoo nods in amusement. He immediately whips his phone out and fiddles around before showing Jihoon a video.

It’s a student from their school in the video – Jihoon knows from the look of the lecture theatre in the video. At first, it seems like a normal lecture.

Suddenly, the angle of the phone shifts, and the next thing Jihoon can see is a girl taking off her shirt and start dancing on the table. Jihoon instinctively covers his eyes, because what the fuck? He can see the lecturer freaking out, but everyone else is laughing and cheering as they film this on their phones.

When the video ends, Jihoon whispers, “What was that all about?”

“That’s Nerve. It’s truth or dare, but this time, it’s dare or dare,” Seongwoo explains calmly. “That girl in the video was what we call a player. The people filming? They’re called watchers.”

“Okay,” Jihoon hesitantly says, not really sure where this is going. “What’s the point? I’m not going to take my shirt off in front of the entire student body.”

“I’ll have you know she made $500 just for completing that dare,” Seongwoo says, smiling proudly when Jihoon’s jaw drops.

$500? Jihoon takes a month to earn the same amount of money this girl earned by completing a dare.

“B-but,” Jihoon stutters. “I can’t. I’m going to get into trouble. With the school, with my mom.”

He’s aware of how much he sounds like a loser and mama’s boy in front of Seongwoo right now, but the other boy just smiles. 

Goosebumps rise on his skin when Seongwoo leans into his ear and whispers, “That’s the beauty of Nerve, honey. You’re never going to get caught. Do the dares, suffer no repercussions, earn quick money. Isn’t that what you’ve been waiting for?”

Jihoon gulps nervously. Seongwoo is right. But still, he’s never broken a rule in his entire lifetime. Heck, he even hands his homework up on time. 

“I uh… I should think about it,” Jihoon says. “Thanks, for letting me know. I guess.”

“Cool,” Seongwoo nods. “Just let me know if you’re interested in playing. I’ll send you the invite link just in case, you’ll never be able to find it on the internet.”

“Wait,” Jihoon pauses before he hands his phone over to Seongwoo. “Does that mean you’re…”

Seongwoo smiles, and it’s playful this time. There’s excitement in his gaze, when he nods and says, “I’m a player.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon’s hands hover the invite link Seongwoo sent to him that night. Woojin has long fallen asleep, but Jihoon’s eyes just won’t will themselves to close and go to bed.

 

 

 _From: Ong Seongwoo_  


_Here’s the link: Tz54nmf/invite.player/nerve.co_  


_Let me know if you join, I think we’d make a great team ;)_

 

 

Jihoon rolls his eyes. _As if_ he would ever subject himself to being on Seongwoo’s team at any point in his life.

Still, he’s tempted. Just to see what this game is really all about.

So, he taps on the link.

His screen goes black for a second, and he almost panics and thinks that a virus has somehow infected his phone. Then, it turns on again and his screen is replaced with a bright purple screen with words.

 

 

_“Welcome to Nerve. A game like truth or dare, minus the truth.”_

 

 

So Seongwoo wasn’t shitting him.

 

 

_“Watchers pay to watch, and players play to win cash or glory.”_

 

 

In the background, Jihoon can see people jumping off bridges, lying on train tracks, and even hanging from a high building. He already feels dizzy just by looking at them.

 

 

_“Are you a watcher or a player?”_

 

 

The two options ‘Watcher’ and ‘Player’ show up on Jihoon’s screen. His eyes trail over to ‘Player’, but he taps on ‘Watcher’ instead.

 

 

_“To be a Watcher, you have to pay $50 a week. Continue?”_

 

 

“$50 a week?” Jihoon gasps into his pillow. He immediately exits the link, and his phone goes back to normal. He turns his phone off, and lets the darkness swallow him.

There’s something in him – instinct, that tells him that this whole thing is shady. He wants to delete Seongwoo’s number and the link that comes along with it, but he can’t. 

He _needs_ the money.

“Fuck,” he curses. He can think about it tomorrow. For now, he’s going to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon doesn’t think of Nerve the few days that follow. He makes an extra effort to not bump into Seongwoo anywhere, and doesn’t wait for Woojin to finish his soccer training for them to go eat dinner together after.

Instead, he uses his time to take a short bus ride down to the city area. He’s standing outside his old high school, waiting for his annoying stepbrother to finally show his face.

Guanlin is too noticeable, Jihoon spots him in the crowd of students immediately.

But something is wrong, Guanlin doesn’t run towards Jihoon and tackle him into a bear hug like Jihoon expects him to. Instead, he glances around the surroundings and takes Jihoon’s arm in his hand and starts running away.

“Guanlin- stop! Lai Guanlin!” Jihoon yells, and finally his stepbrother slows down, but doesn’t remove his grip from Jihoon’s arm. “Why are you running?”

“Hyung,” Guanlin finally speaks. “Why are you here?”

Jihoon frowns, not the kind of response he was expecting. He shakes his arm loose and crosses them. “What do you mean? I’m here to see if my baby brother is doing well in high school.”

“You can’t be here, hyung,” Guanlin lowers his voice. “They’re looking for you.”

“Who?” Jihoon instinctively asks, then he remembers. “God, they looked you up at home?”

Then, he notices the plaster on Guanlin’s right cheek. His fingers graze it, and Guanlin quickly shuns away.

“Did they do this?” Jihoon questions, although he would prefer not to hear the answer. 

Guanlin remains silent, but his actions betray him. The boy can’t lie, especially not to the stepbrother he looks up to so much. He finally nods, and Jihoon can feel the anger pulsing through his veins.

“I told them I would pay up if they didn’t touch my family,” Jihoon says, more to himself than Guanlin. “Where did they look you up? At school?”

“No, at my workplace. I started working at a convenience store near our house to you know, earn some money. I know it’s my dad that caused you all this trouble in the first place.”

Guanlin hangs his head low when he says this, and Jihoon immediately tips Guanlin’s chin up so that they’re looking at each other in the eye.

“Lai Guanlin, this is not your fault. And it never will be. You understand? Don’t blame yourself,” Jihoon says. What a hypocrite, he thinks. Just a few years ago he was cursing at Guanlin for bringing bad luck to their family. (he would do anything to turn back time just to make sure he never said those words to Guanlin.)

Guanlin nods, and Jihoon lets him go.

Jihoon’s fingers comb through his hair in frustration and he bites on his lower lip so hard he thinks it’s going to draw blood.

He’s going to need the money faster than he thought.

“Hey, Guanlin?” Jihoon says. It’s funny, how Guanlin is almost a head taller than Jihoon but he never stops looking at Jihoon with those adoring eyes of his. “Take care of mom, okay? I’ll be back really soon with the money.”

Jihoon thinks he doesn’t have the time to see his mom today. He needs to see Ong Seongwoo as soon as possible.

He doesn’t really have any other choices. He’s going to have to play that stupid dare or dare game.

“Hyung?” Guanlin’s voice pierces through his train of thoughts. “You’re not going to do anything dangerous, are you?”

“No, no. Of course not,” Jihoon assures Guanlin. “I have to go now. Call me if anything happens, okay?”

“Alright, be safe hyung,” is all Guanlin says before Jihoon runs off, hoping to catch the fastest bus back to school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I want to play,” Jihoon says, ignoring the stares being thrown at him and the whistles from Seongwoo’s teammates in the background. He understands, he’s never been the one to make the first move – so it’s a scene to watch when Jihoon storms into the soccer boy’s locker room that night.

Seongwoo’s half naked, but he makes no attempt to cover up. And frankly, Jihoon couldn’t care less.

“What was that?” Seongwoo grins, leaning onto the locker beside him.

“Your stupid game,” Jihoon says through clenched teeth. “Nerve. I want to play Nerve. Walk me through it, tell me what I have to do. Tell me all the rules of this game.”

Seongwoo frowns, looking to see if Jihoon is being serious on now. When Jihoon’s expression doesn’t change, he nods and says, “Good choice. Let’s go, I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

When Jihoon walks through the mess of sweaty soccer boys with Seongwoo’s arm slung proudly around his shoulder, he almost throws up. It’s disgusting, but he has to bear with it. He’s going to get through this, and make sure Guanlin or his mother never gets hurt again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“So,” Seongwoo says when they make it out of the crowd and take a seat in a bistro near the school. 

(Seongwoo had insisted that he wanted to treat Jihoon to a meal, and Jihoon didn’t even have the strength to tell the greasy jock that all he wanted to know was how to play the game.

He wasn’t going to get anything out of Seongwoo by being snappy today, so he let Seongwoo take him wherever he wanted to go.)

“Why the change of heart?” Seongwoo asks, his head propped up by his arm on the table. “Not to assume anything about you; but I never thought you’d have the heart to play this game.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Jihoon answers plainly, mostly referring to being alone with Seongwoo more than the game itself. “Just tell me how I should play this game.”

“Alright, if you’re going to be a player, there are three rules you have to follow.”

Jihoon waits in silence for Seongwoo to continue.

 

 

“One. All of the dares have to be recorded on your phone, or it doesn’t count.”

 

 

Seongwoo taps on Jihoon’s phone on the table, to which he nods in reply. It doesn’t seem too bad, for now.

 

 

“Two. All your money will be revoked if you fail, or bail out at any time in the game.”

 

 

Jihoon’s voice is shaky, “Then how do I keep the money?”

“You win.”

The only thing Jihoon has ever won in his life is that spelling bee competition he had in primary school years ago. And he’d only won because the smartest guy in his class was sick that day. And by some stroke of luck, he was the only one who knew how to spell “diarrhoea” correctly.

Jihoon starts to fill sick. Not the nauseous type – the type where your stomach feels all weird and you don’t have a good feeling about what you’re about to do.

“You good?” Seongwoo’s voice is almost caring, but Jihoon ignores it.

“What’s the last rule?” Jihoon says before Seongwoo can start getting to him.

 

 

“Three. Never ever report anything that happens in this game to the law enforcement.”

“In other words, don’t be a snitch.”

 

 

He’s not sure if it’s the intensity of Seongwoo’s gaze or the bistro’s air-conditioning had somehow been turned off – but it’s starting to get stuffy in here. 

“What- what happens if someone snitches?” Jihoon’s hands clasp around his phone hesitantly.

“Your identity gets stolen. You become a prisoner. It’s complicated, just don’t snitch.”

“Okay,” Jihoon’s breath is shaky, but he steadies himself. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

With a final silent prayer, Jihoon taps on the option ‘player’.

 

 

_“Enter ID.”_

 

 

There’s a fingerprint scanner on his phone, and Jihoon shakily places his finger on it. He holds his breath as his fingerprint is being scanned, and when it is complete, the words on the screen steals his breath away.

 

 

_“Are you ready for your first dare?”_

 

 

It’s not too late – Jihoon knows he can still back out now. Maybe he can take up three part-time jobs, or even quit school?

No, his mother would kill him with her bare hands. 

“Go on,” Seongwoo encourages from the side. Jihoon wants to tell him to shut up, that he’s thinking, but closes his eyes and clicks ‘Accept’.

It takes a few second for the next screen to load.

 

 

**For $100: Pour milkshake over Kang Dongho’s head.**

 

 

“What?” Jihoon gasps, then looks around and spots who the dare is referring to. Just two tables away, he spots the school’s rugby team captain with his loyal followers laughing over a few drinks. 

He swallows his saliva nervously. He’s never talked to Kang Dongho, much less pour a milkshake over his head. And by the size of Kang Dongho’s biceps, it’s definitely not a good idea.

“What are you waiting for?” Seongwoo prompts, sliding the milkshake he’d ordered earlier in front of Jihoon. “Your first hundred bucks is waiting for you.”

“I- I can’t-“ Jihoon stutters. His phone vibrates, and he sees the warning.

 

 

**“You have 1 minute left before you fail.”**

 

 

Jihoon grabs the milkshake in his hand and stands up slowly. At the bottom right of the screen, he can see an eye icon – which he infers must be the number of people watching him right now.

54; that’s the number of people that are going to witness Jihoon’s last few moments before death.

“Fine, I’m going to do it,” Jihoon says and hands his phone over to Seongwoo, who’s already waiting with a huge smile on his face. “Make sure you get a good view.”

“Of course, sweet cheeks,” Seongwoo winks. “Any view of you is a good one. Oh, look. 30 seconds, you better make this a quick one.”

Jihoon is not going to fail on his first dare just because he’s being a chicken. He takes one last look at Kang Dongho and thinks that maybe, just maybe, the big dude would somehow appreciate smelling like a strawberry milkshake for the rest of the night. 

He tries to stride over to Kang Dongho’s table as confidently as he can manage.

“Hey,” he says awkwardly when he reaches the table. The laughter ceases and Kang Dongho turns his head to look up at Jihoon. 

“Can I help you?” he raises his eyebrow.

Jihoon hears a cough from Seongwoo and sees him holding up 5 fingers.

5 seconds left, Seongwoo mouths.

It’s now or never.

Closing his eyes, Jihoon dumps the milkshake right over Kang Dongho. He doesn’t have to open his eyes to guess how much damage he’s done, because he can hear audible gasps from everyone in the bistro. When he opens his eyes to look back at Seongwoo, he gets a thumbs up in return.

Next, Jihoon runs. He grabs Seongwoo’s arm and pulls him out of the booth and the bistro. He runs as fast as his legs can carry him and only stops when the bistro is no longer in sight.

“Fuck,” Jihoon says as he clutches his heart, which is beating at an abnormally fast rate. (Hint; it’s not the run). “Did you get it all?”

Seongwoo nods proudly as he hands the phone back to Jihoon, “All of it. You should have seen his face when you ran away. Priceless.”

“Shut up,” Jihoon mumbles. This is so not going to be one of his proudest moments in his life.

“Congrats on completing your first dare,” Seongwoo says, slow-clapping for Jihoon. “I never knew Park Jihoon would be able to do it.”

Jihoon gets a message notification from the bank.

 

 

_$100 has just been deposited into your account._

 

 

And even though his heart is racing and he’s probably going to have his head clocked by the rugby team somewhere in the future, Jihoon smiles.

“Are you carrying on?” Seongwoo challenges.

“Yeah,” Jihoon nods. There’s no way he’s stopping now. “But not with you.”

“Come on,” Seongwoo pleads. “We’ll have so much fun together. You and I.”

Jihoon hasn’t forgotten that Seongwoo is still an annoying douchebag that thinks he owns Jihoon. 

“Grab whatever you need,” Seongwoo says, “I’ll wait for you at the main entrance, I don’t think you’ll be coming back for a while.”

Jihoon wants to disageee, but Seongwoo is of some help to him. For now, he can follow. It’s not like he has much of a choice, anyway. He can ditch him later, Jihoon thinks.

For now, he has more dares to complete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Woojin berates as soon as Jihoon steps into his room to pack whatever he needs. Or thinks he needs.

“What?” Jihoon repeats, irritated. He grabs a few shirts out of his cupboard and stuffs them into his bag. He even takes a the bag of chips he’s managed to hide from Woojin the past week. Other than that, Jihoon isn’t really sure what else he needs to bring along.

Woojin walks up to Jihoon and steadies him by the shoulder.

“You _can’t_ play Nerve, Jihoon.”

Jihoon stops in his tracks and faces his friend, “How did you know?”

Woojin shakes his head disappointedly and points his phone at Jihoon. It’s the video that Seongwoo filmed of him before. He flinches when he sees the milkshake being poured over Kang Dongho and boy – that does not look pretty.

“Are you a watcher?” Jihoon whispers.

“Yeah, only to watch how stupid people like you ruin their lives over an online game,” Woojin shoots back. His gaze softens when he sees how uncertain Jihoon looks.

“You can’t play Nerve, Jihoon. People have died playing this, it’s not safe.”

Jihoon purses his lips, and God, he knows Woojin is right. He isn’t sure how things are going to escalate from here. He doesn’t even have a plan.

But Guanlin needs him. His mother needs him.

“I need the money, Woojin,” Jihoon says, zipping up his backpack and putting on a jacket just in case the night is cold and he doesn’t have anywhere to stay. “And if you have a better idea, please. Let me know. But for now, I’m going to be fine. Don’t worry.”

Without a second glance behind, Jihoon rushes out the door. He’s afraid Woojin is going to convince him to stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like Seongwoo promised, he’s waiting for Jihoon at the main entrance.

“Have you gotten your next dare yet?” Seongwoo asks when he sees Jihoon walk towards him.

Jihoon checks – and no, there’s nothing. 

“Don’t worry, the watchers are just probably looking into your data and finding the most suitable dare for you. Let’s go,” Seongwoo announces, swinging his arm around Jihoon again. “I have somewhere to be.”

“My what?” Jihoon repeats. 

Data?

Seongwoo pretends not to hear him, and they take a bus down to the city area. Jihoon isn’t sure how going to the city is going to make things better, but Seongwoo looks like he knows what he’s doing, so he follows silently.

“You have 150 watchers from the previous time,” Seongwoo notices. “Not too bad for a first dare.”

Jihoon glances down at his phone again. Wow, 150 people watched him dump a milkshake over their school’s strongest rugby player. How nice.

“What about you? How many do you have?” Jihoon asks.

He realises too late that he sounds like he’s trying to start a conversation with Seongwoo. He’s not.

Jihoon needs to find out how far behind he is from the top, and who he needs to beat to win this game.

“Me? Not much. I have around 10k watchers,” Seongwoo says, handing his phone over to Jihoon to see.

“10K?” Jihoon gasps. “10 thousand? God, what did you do?”

There’s a ranking that shows on their phones and oh god, Seongwoo is at number twenty. He doesn’t even want to know how far behind he is.

“A lot,” Seongwoo confesses. “Which is why you’re lucky to be paired up with me. With more watchers, you’re going to climb up in no time.”

Jihoon doesn’t feel comforted. At all. 

They get off the bus when they reach the city. It’s dark, but bustling with people. Jihoon hasn’t been out in a long time and it’s not too bad to actually get some fresh air.

His phone dings, and his heart starts racing again when he sees the words.

 

 

**For $200: Steal somebody’s wallet.**

 

 

“Whoa, whoa,” Jihoon stops himself. “I can’t do that. That’s illegal. Stealing is illegal.”

He hears Seongwoo chuckle from above him, “Honey. Nothing in the Nerve world is illegal.”

Jihoon scans his surroundings for a possible target. God, he can’t actually steal someone’s wallet. That’s when he feels Seongwoo leaning in closer to him, his back touching Seongwoo’s chest. Jihoon squirms, but Seongwoo holds onto him firmly.

“That guy in the expensive suit,” Seongwoo whispers, using his hand to cup Jihoon’s face and direct him to who he’s looking at. “His wallet is just begging to be stolen. Plus, I bet a lost wallet wouldn’t mean much to him anyway.”

“Get off me,” Jihoon snaps, finally managing to push the other boy away.

Seongwoo is right, again, unfortunately. How many times has Seongwoo done this to not feel a prick of guilt?

Sighing, Jihoon clicks accept. This time, he has 5 minutes. 

Jihoon hands over his phone to Seongwoo’s waiting hands again and speeds off, following the man in the expensive suit. He’s walking fast, but not really paying any attention to the people around him. If Jihoon can get close enough, he can reach his hand out and –

“I got it,” Jihoon whispers to himself, the brown leather wallet held tightly in his hand. Slowly, he makes his way out of the crowd and hopes to appear as un-suspicious as possible.

He makes a mistake to look back – and he locks eyes with the man who happens to realise that his wallet is gone.

Before Jihoon can even react, a strong grip pulls him from the crowd and into a nearby alley. Whoever is holding him so tightly pushes Jihoon against the wall and tips his head to the side of Jihoon’s face.

Jihoon trashes violently, thinking that it’s Seongwoo attempting something again.

When he meets eyes with the stranger, he finds that it’s not Seongwoo. Rather, a head of silver hair greets him and before he can say anything, the stranger says, “Shh- Pretend like you’re kissing me.”

“Pretend like I’m w-“ Jihoon’s protests are cut off when the stranger presses a thumb against his lips and leans in very, very close. Their lips are only separated by the stranger’s thumb but before Jihoon can shout out for help, he hears voices.

 

 

“Are you sure he went this way, Sir?”

“I’m sure, officer. That boy took my wallet, I saw him running this way.”

 

 

Jihoon freezes, the brown wallet still in his right hand, visible for anyone to see if they walked past just then. Skilfully, the stranger uses his free hand to snatch the wallet out of Jihoon’s hand and throw it into the dark alley.

The stranger uses his other hand to cup Jihoon’s cheek – and that’s when Jihoon realises that this man is helping him.

The policeman and the man Jihoon stole from walk past the two, not noticing Jihoon because he’s well-hidden by well, the stranger kissing him. (fake-kissing, Jihoon reminds himself)

When the footsteps fade into the distance, the stranger pulls away and Jihoon lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. His heart is thumping wildly fast too, and he doesn’t know why.

Jihoon gets a good glimpse of the stranger then. He realises that his silver hair is not the most noticeable thing about him.

“Thanks,” is all Jihoon can manage. 

“You should have been more careful,” the stranger warns. “If you were caught you would have failed. All your money? Gone.”

“Y-you play?” Jihoon asks nervously, still unable to calm down from the situation before.

The stranger nods, looks around one last time and says, “I think you’re in the clear.”

“Okay, great. Yeah, thanks. For everything,” Jihoon mutters, not really sure what he should say. 

“I saw your friend recording out there, I’ll walk you to him, just to be sure,” the stranger adds, and takes Jihoon’s hand in his. He notices Jihoon’s shocked expression and says, “Just for the show.”

“Just for the show,” Jihoon laughs nervously but lets the stranger lead him out to the public area again. He spots Seongwoo easily, and tenses up when he surveys the stranger holding Jihoon’s hand.

“Is he your friend?” the stranger asks, looking pointedly at Seongwoo.

“Not really,” Jihoon confesses. He takes his phone back from Seongwoo and as promised, another $200 has been deposited into his account. His night is going great, actually.

“Come on babe,” Seongwoo whines, which turns Jihoon off even more. He’s probably going to ditch Seongwoo earlier than he thinks. “We ready to move on to the next dare?”

“I uh…” Jihoon ignores Seongwoo and turns to the stranger. “I have to go.”

The stranger nods and lets go of Jihoon’s hand but doesn’t stop looking at Seongwoo.

“You sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Jihoon says, although there’s nothing okay with spending another minute with Seongwoo. But that’s not an argument he wants to have in front of the stranger he almost kissed.

“You can leave,” Seongwoo glares at the stranger while slinging an arm around Jihoon. Again, Jihoon flinches but Seongwoo keeps him tight in his arms.

The stranger’s eyes flash with worry but he manages to tear his gaze away.

“Stay safe,” he says before walking away.

It doesn’t even take the stranger 5 steps to look back at Jihoon.

Jihoon wants to ask if something is wrong – when his phone rings again.

His heart races, but in a good way. And a small smile starts to tug on his lips unconsciously.

 

 

**For $300: Leave with Daniel**

 

 

When the stranger (who now has a name) meets eyes with Jihoon again, he knows he’s gotten the same dare.

“Daniel?” Jihoon says, surprised at how easily his name escapes his lips.

Daniel’s lips curl into a smile as well. The name suits him well, Jihoon thinks.

_“Jihoon?”_

He likes the way his name sounds when it rolls of Daniel’s tongue as well. 

“That’s me.”

As soon as the words escape his mouth, Daniel walks up to him. Ignoring Seongwoo who’s glaring holes into him, Daniel says, “I think the watchers like us together. Do you want to come with me?”

If you ask Jihoon later, he’s going to swear he teamed up with Daniel just to escape the clutches of Ong Seongwoo.

But deep down, he knows the bad feeling he had from before is starting to go away. The anxiety rooted deep in the put of Jihoon’s stomach fades away when Daniel holds out a waiting hand to him.

“Yes.”

Jihoon barely knows Daniel. Scratch that, he knows nothing about this other player whom he’s been dared to team up with. 

“Then come.”

Jihoon doesn’t have to hesitate to take Daniel’s hand and have him pull Jihoon away from Seongwoo’s arms into his. He no longer feels disgusted, but instead, he feels safe.

“Park Jihoon, you’re going to regret it,” Seongwoo’s voice calls from behind. “He’s not who you think he is.”

Jihoon stops in his tracks. From the way Seongwoo is speaking, it sounds like he knows Daniel. And it doesn’t sound like they’re on good terms.

“Are you going to listen to him?” Daniel’s voice is low, almost threatening.

When Jihoon turns to face Daniel again, their eyes meet. The man before him is so beautiful, so enchanting, and Jihoon is okay with knowing nothing about Daniel.

“No,” is all Jihoon says before he clicks on ‘accept dare’ and relishes in the $300 being deposited into his bank again.

This is the easiest dare he’s ever had to complete – by far.

If Jihoon was looking at his surroundings (which he most definitely was not; he was too captivated by the man walking next to him) he would have seen the number of people who were following them, filming them on their cell phones

Watching them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel had never planned on saving Park Jihoon that night.

In fact, he was in the city to look for a nice and quiet bar to have his drink at before his next dare from the watchers arrived. He’d just completed a big one, and his watcher count was increasing at an incredibly fast speed.

Daniel smiled – the rankings showed that he was still in first place. The others were catching up, no doubt. But he still had some time before the next dare arrived.

He liked the bustling city, the heart of Seoul. It was so easy to lose yourself in the mass of bodies pushing past each other, it was so easy to forget who he really was.

That’s when he saw the boy. He wasn’t noticeable at first. It was only when Daniel looked closer when he saw a young boy, not older than eighteen, he thinks, squirming under the grip of an older boy.

At first glance, the two look like a couple. The disdain on the smaller boy’s face tells him otherwise. 

Daniel walks closer to the two boys, careful not to seem like he’s eavesdropping. It’s an easier task to complete than he’d thought – the boys barely notice Daniel standing nearby.

“Get off me,” he hears the smaller boy say as he pushes the other taller boy off him. 

Daniel watches the boy shove his handphone into the taller boy’s hand and walk off angrily. This piques Daniel’s interest, and he sneaks a peak at what the taller boy is doing.

The taller boy is filming the smaller boy, and he wonders what he’s up to until he sees the smaller boy follow behind a man wearing a Gucci suit, his hand outstretched at something Daniel can’t really see over the crowd of people.

The boy smiles to himself, which makes Daniel smile as well. Then, he sees the wallet in the boy’s hand. He looks back at the taller boy, and he’s focusing on making sure that the younger boy’s illegal acts are all captured on camera.

_Oh._

__

They were playing Nerve as well.

__

Daniel meets other players on a regular basis. In fact, his past four years have been built around Nerve, and he’s met more people through the game than he’d like to.

__

Some left him with good memories, friends even. 

__

 

__

 

__

Some were… not as good.

__

 

__

 

__

That’s when Daniel spots the man in a Gucci suit patting his back pocket – he’s realised that his wallet is missing. Daniel sees the younger boy lock eyes with the man and for a moment, he panics as well.

__

The man starts shouting something, but his voice is drowned out by the loud chatter of people and the horning of the cars in the background. The younger boy is not in the clear, and he’s definitely going to get caught if Daniel doesn’t do anything.

__

The only problem is that Daniel shouldn’t be helping others. Any other Nerve player is his enemy, a hurdle he has to cross to get to Number 1.

__

“Walk away, Kang Daniel,” he tells himself. “He’s a nobody.”

__

The man is catching up to the boy, and Daniel can’t just stand by and watch the boy fail; even if this is none of his business.

__

He sighs, and hopes none of his watchers are following him. As swiftly as he can manage, he pulls the younger boy out of the crowd by the arm and leads him into the alley nearby.

__

The boy trashes violently in his grip, but Daniel doesn’t let him go.

__

When their eyes meet in the dark, Daniel almost blurts out, “Wow, you’re so pretty.”

__

Instead, he leans down and whispers, “Pretend like you’re kissing me.”

__

Shock registers across the other boy’s eyes and before he can complete his next sentence, Daniel presses his thumb against the other boy’s soft lips and leans in closer. So close – they might as well be kissing for real.

__

Since it isn’t a real kiss, Daniel keeps his eyes open. So does the other boy. He takes this chance to memorise the other boy’s face. The way his eyes stare at him so prettily, his nose bridge, the way the blush spreads across his cheeks when he’s flustered or embarrassed.

__

“Are you sure he went this way, Sir?”

__

“I’m sure, officer. That boy took my wallet, I saw him running this way.”

__

Daniel remembers what he’s really here for, and reaches down for the wallet, which he finds in the other boy’s hand, and throws it into the darkness; away from anyone’s eye. He hears footsteps approaching, and cups the boy’s cheek with his hand just in case he gets recognized.

__

Things go according to plan, and Daniel smiles triumphantly when he pulls away. 

__

“Thanks,” is the first thing the other boy says.

__

“Cute,” Daniel thinks. 

__

“You should have been more careful. If you were caught you would have failed. All your money? Gone.”

__

Daniel has seen too many cases of people getting caught when they were playing Nerve. He just doesn’t want this same doe-eyed boy to face the same fate. He wants to ask what a pretty boy like him is playing with a game like Nerve – but keeps his mouth shut instead.

__

“Y-you play?” the other boy stutters.

__

He only nods, not keen to expose more of himself than he should. He looks around one last time to make sure that the man and policeman are out of sight, and he says, “I think you’re in the clear.”

__

It’s too much of a pity to let the boy walk away from him just like that, so Daniel offers, “I saw your friend recording out there, I’ll walk you to him, just to be sure.”

__

Daniel reaches out for the boy’s hand, and adds, “Just for show,” when the boy looks up at him, surprised.

__

Just for show, my foot, Daniel thinks to himself.

__

They find his friend easily enough, but Daniel is greeted by two angry eyes instead. He doesn’t know for what the other boy is glaring at him for, then follows his gaze to the intertwined hands of him and the younger boy.

__

“Ah,” Daniel thinks and smirks. “Jealousy.”

__

“Is he your friend?” Daniel asks the boy, making it a point to smile straight at the other boy.

__

“Not really,” the boy dismisses, which makes Daniel feel even better. 

__

“Come on babe,” the taller boy finally speaks, and Daniel feels the pit of his stomach bubble in anger at the pet name he was using that the smaller boy was very obviously not comfortable with. “We have to move on to the next dare.”

__

We?

__

Daniel can’t lie. He’s jealous as well. He might be the one holding the pretty boy’s hand right now but the two were on the same team? 

__

He feels the other boy unlocking his fingers as he meets eyes with Daniel again.

__

“I uh… have to go,” he says.

__

“You sure you’re going to be okay?” Daniel asks. He hopes the other boy senses that he’s not just asking about the game.

__

“Yeah,” Jihoon nods, then smiles as if to prove his point. “Sure.”

__

The taller boy glares at him and says, “You can leave.”

__

He then swings an arm around the other boy’s shoulder, which makes Daniel want to rip his arm off. 

__

But this is not his fight, and definitely none of his business.

__

“Stay safe,” Daniel says, because he doesn’t know what else he should say.

__

He turns to walk away before his stupid mouth can blurt out anything else. He’s so going to regret leaving the boy alone with someone he’s so obviously uncomfortable with, but Daniel doesn’t have anything to offer the boy either.

__

Daniel’s phone rings, and he knows his next dare is here.

__

Damn it, he didn’t even get to get himself a can of beer before his next one.

__

 

__

 

__

**For $1.2K: Take Jihoon with you.**

__

 

__

 

__

He immediately looks up, now hyper aware of his surroundings. And he sees the watchers. 

__

The watchers are everywhere. When you’re playing Nerve, you’re always being watched. The watchers know everything about you, what you fear, what your weak points are. And they watched the way he interacted with the boy, who now had a name.

__

Daniel turns around to look at the boy again, and smiles when he sees that Jihoon is smiling at his phone as well.

__

He knows that Jihoon has gotten the exact same dare.

__

“Daniel?” Jihoon calls out. His heart swells – he never knew his name could sound so beautiful.

__

“Jihoon,” he answers, now walking back with more confidence.

__

“That’s me,” Jihoon confirms, eyes twinkling with excitement.

__

Daniel knows all eyes are on him now, his phone is vibrating violently, a sign that he’s gaining watchers at an insane rate. 

__

“I think the watchers like seeing us together,” Daniel says, making it a point to look around. Although it isn’t obvious, he can see strangers pointing their phones towards the two. He then looks back at Jihoon, “Do you want to come with me?”

__

Daniel holds out a hand to Jihoon, and for a moment, he’s afraid that Jihoon won’t come with him.

__

His fears quickly disappear when Jihoon breaks away from the other boy’s embrace (he wouldn’t really call it an embrace, it was more like the other boy was gripping onto Jihoon) and takes his hand.

__

“Yes.”

__

“Then come.”

__

Daniel whispers this, but he’s sure Jihoon heard him. Because the boy melts so naturally into his embrace and lets Daniel lead the way out.

__

“Park Jihoon. You’re going to regret it,” the other boy warns from behind, and Daniel flinches.

__

“He’s not who you think he is.”

__

He feels Jihoon stop in his tracks. 

__

So, his friend knows who he is. Who is Daniel kidding, really. Almost everyone who plays Nerve knows who he is. 

__

Everyone but Jihoon, that is. Jihoon doesn’t seem to know what his friend is talking about, but Daniel can see the questions rising in his mind.

__

But Daniel wants Jihoon to trust him. 

__

“Are you going to listen to him?” he leans down to whisper into Jihoon’s ear.

__

It’s not perfect, but it’s enough when Jihoon shakes his head and accepts the dare on his phone.

__

“No.”

__

Daniel feels assured, that at least one person in this world does trust him.

__

Even more so when it’s Jihoon.

__

Daniel knows the watchers are recording every moment of this, but he couldn’t care less. He doesn’t see any of them; he’s too busy looking at the beautiful boy in his arms.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW okay so silver hair daniel was so not the inspiration for this story (btw today is his birthday aka why i decided to post this today! happy birthday to our prince kang daniel!!)
> 
> again thank youuu all so much for your love and support please do leave comments as to what you think about this new au?
> 
> things are going to get exciting for sure, so see you next update :D
> 
> take care!! xoxo bapaldeul <3


	2. unlikely pair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> midweek update woohoo!

Jihoon lets Daniel lead him out of the city area and to a nearby parking lot, and smiles proudly when they come to a stop next to a small pickup truck. It’s not much to look at, but Jihoon is just glad that he doesn’t have to cover any more ground on public transport or on foot.

“Meet my baby,” Daniel announces, taking out his keys. He presses on a button, and with a soft beep, the door of the truck unlocks. 

“Wow,” Jihoon can’t help but marvel. He then giggles at Daniel’s use of language and says, “So you’re one of those people who give names to inanimate objects?”

Daniel chuckles, opens the door on Jihoon’s side and motions for him to go inside. The seats are a little worn out, but comfortable none the less. Jihoon takes a look behind, and sees a seat full of snacks (cheese balls, chips, chocolates, gummy worms, you name it, Daniel had it.)

It doesn’t really fit with Daniel’s image, but then again what even is Daniel’s image? Jihoon decides it’s more for him to find out later.

Daniel plops into the driver’s seat next to him, and starts the engine. 

“You can have some snacks if you’re hungry,” Daniel motions to the back of the truck. 

“I’m good,” Jihoon assures him as they drive out of the carpark. “Where are we going?”

Silence.

“I don’t know,” Daniel confesses. “The dare was to take you with me, but it doesn’t say exactly where I should take you.”

The city lights pass by, and in no time, they’re on an old road to God knows where. Jihoon’s breath fogs up the glass and the pulls his jacket closer to him. He feels so far away from home – from Guanlin’s non-stop questioning and his mother’s love.

“That is true,” Jihoon agrees when he finally brings himself to stop thinking about his family. “I guess you can take me to wherever you want to take me.”

Daniel thinks hard about it for a little while, then makes a right turn onto a wider road.

“Well… I’m starving. Do you mind if I get something to eat?”

Jihoon’s stomach rumbles, and he nods. Having some food now doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. 

“Sure.”

“Great. I know the perfect place.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon thinks his trust in Daniel is growing because well, the place is perfect. It’s late, almost midnight now when they pull up in front of a shady looking food joint. It doesn’t strike Jihoon as a place he would like to have dinner at, but realises he’s wrong when Daniel opens the doors to “Waffles and Burgers”.

“Waffles and burgers,” Jihoon sighs when he slips into a booth the waitress shows them to. The way Daniel’s eyes light up when Jihoon mentions the restaurant’s name is an indication that he knows the combination might be a little ridiculous for his liking.

“An unlikely pair, I know,” Daniel nods, pushing the menu towards Jihoon and says to the waitress, “I’ll just have my usual.”

The waitress flashes a smile at Daniel, and shouts his order to the kitchen. Jihoon’s eyes gaze over the menu; he has no idea what to get here.

“I think… I’ll just have whatever he’s having,” Jihoon says, choosing once again to place his trust in Daniel. If this is his usual dinner hideout, the food he orders can’t be that bad. The waitress collects their menus and tells them to wait a little while for their food.

“Just like us.”

“Huh?” Jihoon snaps back to reality. He’d been too busy looking around the food joint to realise that Daniel was talking to him.

Daniel doesn’t seem to mind, and wears a soft smile on his face.

“ _Us_ ; an unlikely pair,” Daniel says, gesturing between himself and Jihoon. 

Oh, he was comparing them to waffles and burgers. What an intriguing man.

“Yeah, that’s for sure,” Jihoon replies. “I don’t even know why they would make me go with you anyway. And just a heads up, I’m probably not the best partner to have.”

Jihoon realises that he probably shouldn’t have said that, because Daniel frowns. He wonders if Daniel is going to abandon him after they finish their dinner, and he’s honestly not going to blame Daniel if he does.

“I don’t know about that,” Daniel muses. “I think you’d make a pretty good partner. If the watchers like seeing us together, there’s got to be some sort of chemistry between us, don’t you think?”

“That’s true,” Jihoon agrees. Daniel talks like he’s had years of experience with this game.

First, with the way he’d skilfully helped Jihoon escape failure and losing all his hard-earned money. Second, with the way he was analysing every dare the watchers gave them so far.

“I hope you don’t mind if I ask you this, but what’s your rank-“

Before Jihoon can complete his sentence, the doors of the food joint slam open, the bell at the top of the door ringing violently; as if announcing the entrance of someone with great power. Instinctively, Jihoon turns to see who has made a grand entrance.

It’s a boy, tall and neat-looking by the way his shirt is neatly tucked into his blue jeans. His hair, however, is messy and beads of sweat drip down his face as he scans his surroundings. 

When his and Jihoon’s eyes meet, Jihoon immediately lowers his gaze. His gaze is so intense it just forces Jihoon to look away. A shiver travels down his spine – nope, no good vibes about this boy.

He looks back at Daniel, who has his gaze fixated on the new presence in the room. Jihoon just prays that the man isn’t looking for trouble, and that he’ll leave them alone. 

His heart starts to race when he hears footsteps behind him, and he knows the man is walking up to them.

“Daniel.”

Daniel doesn’t look the least bit intimidated when his name escapes the new man’s lips. Instead, he smiles bitterly and greets him good-manneredly as well.

“Minhyun hyung. It’s nice to see you again.”

Jihoon gulps nervously. It’s nice to know that Daniel actually knows who this man is, but the tone the two are using with each other is anything but friendly.

“Is it really?” the man, now named Minhyun says, his tone now sarcastic. Minhyun’s fingers run over the side of the table in front of Jihoon. He doesn’t even have the courage to look up and instead wishes he can disappear right now.

Of course, things never go the way he wants.

“And who is this?” 

“He’s nobody, Minhyun,” Daniel says with a low growl in his voice. “If you have business with me, leave him out of it.”

The two are definitely not on friendly terms, Jihoon notes. And by the way no one steps in to help, Jihoon is starting to think he’s the only one that doesn’t understand the situation right now at all.

“What’s your name?” Minhyun asks, addressing Jihoon directly.

“Don’t do this,” Daniel warns Minhyun.

Suddenly, Jihoon’s shoulder is grabbed and he’s forced to look straight at Minhyun.

A breath escapes his lips, and Minhyun’s grip doesn’t leave his shoulder until Daniel stands up and grabs Minhyun by the collar, creasing his perfectly ironed shirt.

“Don’t touch him. This is my last warning.”

Somehow, Daniel’s message does come across this time. Finally, Minhyun lets Jihoon go, and Daniel releases his grip on Minhyun’s collar as well. 

Then, Jihoon realises the amount of people that have gathered to watch the scene, some of them holding their phones, recording every single moment for the whole world to see. 

Suddenly, Minhyun’s fierce gaze melts and a warm smile replaces it. It’s almost scary to see how easily the man can switch between the two.

“No need to get so protective, Niel. I just want to say hi to your new partner. It reminds me of the old times.”

Jihoon doesn’t miss the way Daniel’s jaw tightens at Minhyun’s words; like he wants to say something but he can’t. Minhyun laughs in response to Daniel’s lack of an answer, as if he knows he has a hold against Daniel.

“Be careful of him, _boy_ ,” Minhyun’s gaze shifts to Jihoon again. And if Jihoon didn’t know better, he would have thought Minhyun actually meant well. 

“Whatever Daniel tells you, don’t believe him. He’ll keep you by his side till he doesn’t need you anymore.”

“ _Leave_ , Minhyun.”

On Daniel’s command, Minhyun turns to glare at Daniel one final time, and leaves as quickly as he came. Business resumes, and people put away their phones when they realise that the show is over. The waitress brings them their food, smiling apologetically at Jihoon when she arrives.

Suddenly, Jihoon doesn’t feel so hungry anymore.

Daniel’s head hangs low, his gaze only fixated on his food. His silver bangs cover his eyes, and he doesn’t look as confident as he was in front of Minhyun anymore.

Gathering his courage, Jihoon reaches over to put his hand over Daniel’s.

Daniel looks up, and manages a small, pained smile.

“You alright?” 

“Y-yeah. I’m fine. Let’s eat.”

Daniel’s lies can’t be more obvious, but Jihoon decides it’s better than nothing at the moment. He gives Daniel’s hand a tight squeeze – just to remind him that he’s here. And returns to his food.

Surprisingly, the waffles and burgers go well together.

An unlikely pair indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Niel! What are you thinking about?” somebody bumps into Daniel’s side and by the unique voice tone, Daniel already knows it’s Jonghyun. 

(It’s Jonghyun _hyung_ to you, Jonghyun would protest.)

“Nothing much,” Daniel replies his teammate, although he’d much rather call Jonghyun a friend. A good friend, maybe even his best friend. 

It’s a beautiful night, the stars are out tonight as well. There’s even a cool breeze. But Jonghyun doesn’t need a cool night to be wearing a long-sleeved shirt again. 

Daniel, Minhyun and Jaehwan have teased Jonghyun countless times for his choice of clothing.

“Hyung, I think your final dare will be wearing a normal shirt out,” Jaehwan jokes, coming up behind the two boys, and Minhyun follows silently behind, always watching from afar.

Daniel cracks up, which makes Jonghyun start laughing as well. Jaehwan catches on – his hysterical laughter is what keeps them going until their stomachs hurt. When Daniel wipes his tears away, he realises he’s never felt so happy in his life.

“You guys are terrible,” Jonghyun protests. 

“Don’t be mad, I think it’s cute,” Minhyun coos, which suppresses Jonghyun’s annoyance.

“You think anything Jonghyun hyung wears is cute,” Jaehwan retorts, “He could wear a pineapple suit one day and you’d think he was the most beautiful thing in the world.”

The soft smiles that Jonghyun and Minhyun exchange only proves Jaehwan’s point. Daniel thinks it’s cute, that two people could ever find love in the midst of this cut-throat competition – although he’d never admit that in front of the couple.

“Ugh, you guys are disgusting,” Jaehwan sighs, then smiles sweetly at Daniel. In a fake voice, Jaehwan says, “Daniel honey, you looked so stunning back there.”

“We do not talk to each other like that,” Minhyun argues.

“Ooh Jaehwan-ie boo,” Daniel plays along, reaching over to carress his friend’s cheek, and gets a swat in return. 

“I’m quitting this team,” Minhyun sighs in defeat and puts his hands up in surrender.

“You can’t, you were the one that formed this! Our Emperor, to what do we owe this honourable opportunity to?” Jaehwan overreacts, bowing down to Minhyun, which sends them into a fit of laughter again.

Daniel thinks he can live with this. These small pockets of happiness are enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Too much, too much._

_Everything is coming back too quickly._

_Stop, Daniel tells himself._

_Stop remembering._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Daniel?”

“Daniel!”

Jihoon quickly grabs Daniel’s hand when he realises that tears are flowing down the other boy’s cheeks. He’s biting onto his bottom lip a little too hard, and Jihoon is worried that it’s going to draw blood.

Finally, Daniel looks up at Jihoon. 

Sweat drips down from Daniel’s bangs, and his eyes are hazy.

“Are you okay?”

What a stupid question, Jihoon thinks.

For a moment, Daniel looks terrified. His gaze darts around the room, as if someone is chasing after him. Without another word, he pulls away from Jihoon and runs out the door.

“Damn it,” Jihoon curses, slaps a $50 bill on the table and runs out after Daniel without waiting for the change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I call shotgun!” Jaehwan hollers, loud enough to wake the whole neighbourhood. He doesn’t look the least bit guilty when he gets shushed by the other three. 

Daniel smiles apologetically at Minhyun and Jonghyun, whose arms are linked and shrugs.

“He _did_ call shotgun.”

“He’s called shotgun for three consecutive days,” Minhyun argues.

“That’s not fair,” Jonghyun adds.

“We’re not letting Jonghyun hyung drive,” Jaehwan says in a softer voice. “I’m not really to die early. It’ll be a waste of this beautiful face.”

Daniel nods in agreement. He remembers the one day he’d let Jonghyun try driving the truck. Not only did the other three puke like dragons, they found themselves stuck in a dark and dingy neighbourhood because he’d wasted all the gas trying to find his way around.

“Not cool,” Minhyun sighs as he climbs into the backseat with Jonghyun.

The back is packed with snacks, as always. It’s always a tight squeeze, but Daniel doesn’t have any complaints.

“You could have stolen a bigger truck from that dare,” Jaehwan offers unhelpfully as Daniel starts up the engine. 

That was Jaehwan, always offering useless advice.

“Don’t like it? You can walk.”

“Feisty, was your dinner too salty for your liking?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Mistakes, they were all mistakes._

_Daniel was a mistake._

_And so was being friends with Jonghyun, Minhyun and Jaehwan._

_They were mistakes so beautiful he’d never thought twice about leaving with them._

_And Jihoon shouldn’t face the same fate._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon runs quickly after Daniel – God damn, his legs are so long they covered twice the distance Jihoon’s does in one stride. When he finally catches up, he grips strongly onto Daniel’s arm.

“Hey, look at me.”

Surprisingly, Daniel complies. 

He looks like a mess. Jihoon has no idea what transpired between him and Minhyun from before, but this Daniel isn’t the same Daniel he had met in the city. His eyes have lost focus, and he’s constantly on the lookout for something, or someone.

“Daniel, do you want to talk about it?”

Daniel shuts his eyes tight – as if he’s in pain. 

“No. Jihoon, you have to go.”

That hurts more than Jihoon expects. It’s not like he’d never expect Daniel to tell him to leave – it was too much of a burden to have a plus one around. And they were supposed to be competitors, not friends.

Jihoon was uselessly hoping for too much alone.

“Fine. I’ll leave if I’m dragging you down. I just want to make sure you’re fine before I go.”

Daniel opens his eyes again, and they’re watery again. 

“There’s nothing wrong with you. You can’t be with me, I’m the problem. You’re going to get hurt if you come with me.”

Jihoon remembers what Seongwoo had told him. 

_“He’s not who you think he is.”_

And Minhyun too.

_“He’ll keep you by his side till he doesn’t need you anymore.”_

Jihoon doesn’t know what to make sense of those words. They sound like warnings, but nothing about Daniel makes him feel that way. Instead of running away, he wants to stay. To stay and protect Daniel.

“I’m not leaving, then.”

Daniel’s eyes widen in shock, then fear.

“No, no, no, no,” Daniel chants repeatedly. “You have to go. I don’t want to hurt you.”

It brings tears to Jihoon’s eyes – which is strange, he never cries. 

But he’s not going to lose it now; not when he needs to keep Daniel from breaking apart.

“You’re not going to hurt me. I trust you.”

“You don’t know me.”

“I trust you,” Jihoon says again, this time with more conviction. When Daniel starts to calm down and his muscles aren’t as tense anymore, Jihoon releases his grip. He then moves to wipe Daniel’s tears away.

He doesn’t know what’s wrong – what could have caused Daniel to react so violently against. But for now, he’s just going to stay beside Daniel.

Daniel holds onto Jihoon’s wrist while he’s wiping Daniel’s tears away.

“Are you sure?” his voice is steady now.

“Yes. I trust you, Daniel. Of course I trust you! Why else would I leave with you? And why else would I eat burgers and waffles? I trust you and I don’t even know why so don’t push me away’-“

Jihoon’s words are cut off by the feeling of soft lips against his own. At first, he’s thankful. He was beginning to ramble. (A bad habit pointed out by Woojin.)

Then he freezes when he comes to the realization.

Daniel is kissing him.

His body doesn’t know how to react at first, because he’s never been kissed so passionately in his life. He fumbles with his hands, and Daniel helps him out by wrapping Jihoon’s hands around his back.

Jihoon tries to keep up with Daniel, which proves anything but easy. Daniel is obviously in charge, kissing him till he’s just almost out of breath – and pulling away just when Jihoon wants more.

“Stop-“ Jihoon’s words are cut short again when Daniel cups his face and kisses him again.

Suddenly, he stops and looks at Jihoon.

“Did you ask me to stop? I’m sorry, I should have asked-“

“I wanted to say, ‘Stop teasing me, you little shit’,” Jihoon interrupts.

Daniel smiles, for the first time in a while. 

“Oh. So I can continue?”

Jihoon nods. It feels so good when he manages to bring a smile to Daniel’s face – he doesn’t understand how Daniel could ever use his handsome face to cry. It wasn’t fair.

Daniel doesn’t stop grinning even when he leans in to kiss Jihoon again, he knows this because he’s smiling as well, and their teeth knock lightly against each other when their lips meet again.

Daniel’s thumbs trace circles on Jihoon’s chin, sending goose bumps down his spine. When he feels the need to get more air, he taps thrice on Daniel’s back, and they separate.

“Wow,” Daniel marvels at Jihoon’s pink tinged cheeks. 

“Wow?” Jihoon repeats. Did Daniel really have nothing else to say other than “Wow”?

“Wow as in ‘wow, that was amazing’ and ‘wow, you’re so beautiful’,” Daniel corrects himself.

He blushes, it’s hard not to when you’ve just been so passionately kissed by another handsome boy. His heart is still pumping fast from the adrenaline of the moment, and Jihoon tries to calm himself down. 

“Also, ‘Wow’ as in ‘Wow, there are way too many people here right now, I think we should go’.” Daniel reminds Jihoon. True to his words, there is a crowd of people gathering around them, smiling as they record the two on their phones.

Jihoon can’t tell if they’re genuinely happy for them, or if they’re just happy they got a moment like this on record.

He’s suddenly conscious of himself, and looks up to Daniel for help.

“Let’s go,” Daniel says, not comfortable with the atmosphere either. The two return to the truck, and Daniel turns up the heater – which Jihoon is grateful for. 

Daniel doesn’t drive off even after he starts the engine. He hesitates, then asks Jihoon again, “Are you absolutely sure you trust me?”

Jihoon doesn’t even wait a second to reply.

“With all my heart.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the drive, Jihoon finds out what kind of music Daniel likes.

“I really like R&B,” Daniel says, tapping his fingers to a tune on the radio. The signal isn’t great, and Jihoon can’t tell what the song is through the static. 

“Me too!” Jihoon replies. “Urban Zakapa is my favourite.”

He vaguely remembers asking Woojin to listen to them once, but all he got in return was a curt nod and a ‘maybe later’.

“What about college?” Jihoon asks, happy to keep the conversation going.

He’s usually not much of a talker, but for some strange reason, he’s curious about Daniel. He wants to know every little thing about Daniel. 

(Not in the creepy way, but you know.)

“Never went to college,” Daniel replies, not looking at Jihoon. He pauses, then adds, “Personal reasons.”

Jihoon wants to ask if he’s working – it’s fine not to go to college these days. What has Daniel been doing with all of his time if he’s not in school?

Suddenly, the answer seems crystal clear.

“So… Nerve. How long have you been playing this?”

Daniel smiles, it’s another bitter one when he answers, “4 years.”

Jihoon suppresses a gasp, and chooses to stare intensely out the window instead.

4 years?

Jihoon can’t even believe that this game has been around for 4 years. He doesn’t even know why anyone would play this for 4 years. Daniel doesn’t elaborate, and Jihoon doesn’t press Daniel for any more information.

The air is chilly even though the heater is on full blast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Hyung,” Jaehwan’s voice wakes Daniel up.

Daniel groans in annoyance, almost synonymous with Jonghyun’s and Minhyun’s. Jaehwan always does this – talking when their just about to fall asleep. 

(Just because _you_ can’t fall asleep doesn’t mean _we_ can’t too, Minhyun had said one day.)

“Were you falling asleep?” Jaehwan giggles, obviously not guilty. “Sorry, then.”

“What is it, Jaehwan?” Jonghyun asks, and Daniel wonders how the other man is always so patient when it comes to things like this. 

“Do you think I can make it to college?”

That piques Daniel’s interest. It’s hard to believe – but Jaehwan is his age. No matter how much of a kid he acts like sometimes.

There’s a frustrating silence that occurs after, Jaehwan’s question still hanging in the air.

“Well, Jaehwan,” Jonghyun breaks the silence with an awkward clear of his throat. “As much as I’d hate to admit it, you have quite the brain. I think you’d make it to college with no problem at all.”

“I second that,” Minhyun offers and sits up from his laying down position. “What would you study?”

“Music,” Jaehwan answers without hesitation. “I want to become a music teacher. Maybe a vocal trainer, even. Heck, with these God given looks I could probably become an idol.”

A laugh rises from Daniel’s chest. 

That’s Kim Jaehwan for you – always so full of himself. Daniel admires that about his best friend though; he would love to have as much confidence in himself as Jaehwan does.

Or did.

“You? An idol?” even Jonghyun can’t help but snicker at the thought.

“That’d be the day,” Daniel hums in response.

“I’ll show you guys. I’ll become a world-famous idol – tour the world, compose my own songs. Just you guys watch. I won’t give you free tickets to my concert.” 

“Sure, Jaehwan.”

Daniel doesn’t need to say it out loud to know that they’re all thinking the same thing. They’re all cheering for Jaehwan; for him to chase his dreams, for him to study music.

Maybe even become an idol.

“I can’t waste these honey like vocals just like this,” Jaehwan complains, then starts to belt out the lines to an old trot song none of them recognise. It’s amazing, really, how he manages to hit those notes sober.

Jaehwan would make an amazing singer, Daniel thinks as he closes his eyes again.

“Shut the fuck up, I’m going to sleep!” is what Daniel really says instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_A singer._

_Jaehwan wanted to be a singer._

_And Daniel had taken that away from him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dares will return next chapter! here's some flashbacks and insight to Daniel's past :)
> 
> thank u all for all the love and support!! even though it's not the genre i usually write? i'm still hoping i can write a good story for you guys.
> 
> until next time please take care always <3


	3. forget me not

“You’re zoning out again,” Jihoon notices. Daniel doesn’t bother to refute – it’s the truth. It’s so hard not to think about (for lack of better phrases) _the old times_ when everything reminds him of the past. 

“I’m sorry,” Daniel says, and wills himself to concentrate on the road ahead of him.

“It’s fine,” Jihoon replies. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Daniel should tell Jihoon. 

Ever since the kiss, Daniel has started to feel some sort of responsibility for the other boy. It’s unavoidable – Jihoon has complete trust in him even though Daniel has told him nothing about himself.

It’s just so, so, fucking hard to just think about it. It hurts when the memories invade his mind, threatening to take over his entire being. He doesn’t even know how much more it will hurt if he has to say it out loud.

Jihoon seems to understand Daniel’s dilemma because he says, “If you don’t want to, it’s fine. Just know that I’m here for you, okay?”

That’s okay, Daniel thinks. _More than okay._

Without thinking, he places a hand on Jihoon’s thigh – searching for some sort of comfort. When Jihoon accepts it and holds Daniel’s hand in his, it’s more than enough as well.

After what seems like an eternity, his phone beeps a familiar ringtone. 

Another dare has arrived. Daniel slows the truck down and pulls up at the side. Jihoon looks at him, curious to see what his next dare is.

 

**For 1.3K, retrieve the coin**

 

“What does that mean?” Jihoon inquires, looking around for what the dare is referring to. If Daniel didn’t know any better, he’d be looking around too. Unfortunately, 4 years in the game means knowing all too well what dares like this one refer to.

There’s a knock on the truck window, which startles Jihoon.

It’s a man – he’s wearing a mask and holding a box in his hands. Whatever this means, Daniel doesn’t have a good feeling about this.

Daniel gets out of the truck and Jihoon follows. The man hands the box over to Daniel. It’s relatively heavy, and he sets it down.

“Big fan,” the masked man says before jumping onto his motorbike and riding away.

When he’s out of sight, Jihoon taps on Daniel’s arm and asks, “Who was that?”

“A watcher,” Daniel explains. He taps on the box, it’s hard. “Sometimes, they deliver the dare to you. Never a good sign, though.”

Jihoon helps him to open the top of the box, and says, “There’s a tank inside.”

Daniel gets a sinking feeling. It shouldn’t get to him, not when he has years of experience. He should be a daredevil by now, fearless by all means. 

“Let’s take it out together,” Jihoon offers.

Daniel prays that it isn’t – anything but that. 

Bad feelings are never wrong, Daniel realises. He has to hold his breath and look away for fear that he’ll show signs of weakness in front of Jihoon. 

_Insects._

Creepy-crawlies, or whatever you call those devils. Daniel hates them – all of them. It’s been a childhood dare of his, and even after years have passed, he’s never conquered his fear of insects. 

It’s a well-known fact in the Nerve world that Kang Daniel is afraid of insects. In fact, Daniel shouldn’t even be surprised to find a tank of insects waiting for him. A dare like this never fails to appear every, single year.

“God, it’s disgusting,” Jihoon whispers.

Daniel doesn’t even want to get a closer look at the tank. But he doesn’t have a choice, he needs to locate the coin in the painfully large tank of insects.

He manages to suppress his gag reflex. Grasshoppers, beetles, spiders and tarantulas (they weren’t insects, but they still freaked Daniel out as much) crawl around the tank without a care in the world.

Then, Daniel spots a shiny, silver coin at the furthest end from where his hand is supposed to go into the tank.

He feels a warm hand pressed against his back.

“You okay? I’ll hold your hand,” Jihoon offers. 

This isn’t the time to pretend to be brave, so Daniel just nods. Jihoon’s hand slips down and they intertwine fingers.

“Here, help me record it,” Daniel says, handing his phone to Jihoon.

The time shows that he has 3 minutes. They get more cruel every year, Daniel doesn’t even have the time to be chicken about this. If he doesn’t do it fast, he’s going to fail.

“You can do this,” Jihoon encourages, squeezing Daniel’s hand tight for assurance again.

Slowly, he slips his left hand into the tank, but not really touching anything yet. The thought of touching the insects is enough to make tears pool in Daniel’s eyes, but he keeps them in. He takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes.

Bad move, he doesn’t know which one he touches, but it’s enough to send goose bumps all over his skin and his legs to turn wobbly. He panics, and removes his hand from the tank immediately.

“Wait,” Daniel gasps. 

He can do this. He’s done this for 4 years now.

 

So why is he still so scared?

 

“Daniel?” Jihoon’s voice catches his attention in the midst of his self-doubt. “Look at me, please.”

Daniel is sure he looks like a frightened mess – which is not something he wants to achieve in front of Jihoon. 

Jihoon doesn’t seem to mind, he says, “Look at me. It’s going to be over soon. Don’t let them get to you this easily, okay? You’re better than this.”

That calms his racing heart just a little. He tries again.

 

(You’re 3 million times larger than a bug, Jonghyun would say 

 

If he were here.)

 

Daniel flinches again when something brushes past his hand. It’s disgusting – he wants to pull away and cry. He doesn’t have a lot of time left, so he closes his eyes and digs his hand into the corner of the tank.

When his hands touch something cold, he grabs at the opportunity.

“Got it,” he barely manages to say as he fishes the coin out of the tank. He’s sweating – cold sweat, but he couldn’t be happier.

Suddenly, Jihoon pulls him into a tight hug. And he doesn’t feel dirty anymore. It actually feels so nice to be hugged by someone. 

“You did amazing,” Jihoon says into his shirt. 

“I would hug you, but I just touched a creepy-crawly,” Daniel confesses, instead choosing to bend down and peck Jihoon on the cheek.

“You’re very brave,” Jihoon replies, letting go and handing Daniel a wet tissue from his pockets.

The dare is completed, and they settle down in the back of Daniel’s truck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truth is, Daniel hasn’t sat at the back of his truck for a long time. Not only does it bring so many memories back, it only makes him feel more alone in this big, big world. With Jihoon by his side though, he’s starting to think he should have done this way earlier.

“Here, snuggle into one of these if you’re cold,” Daniel says, offering Jihoon one of the sleeping bags he’s never been able to throw away while he slips his body into his own.

 

(The sleeping bag Jihoon takes is Jonghyun’s – but Daniel doesn’t feel the need to mention that.)

 

There are no stars in the night sky tonight; there’s not even a sign of clouds. It’s a clear, breezy night.

“Tired?” he asks Jihoon, who has laid down and is looking at the stars as well. 

Daniel can’t even begin to fathom how Jihoon is feeling right now. It’s obvious this is the first time the boy is playing Nerve – his nervous actions show it; although Daniel knows Jihoon is trying his best to keep up with his pace.

“I can’t sleep,” Jihoon admits. “Not at all.”

Daniel understands, because he’s been through it before. It’s almost like how you’re unable to sleep before going out camping with your friends the next day. Instead this time you can’t sleep because of the dread; not the excitement.

“Try catching a few blinks?” Daniel offers. “I don’t know when you’ll be able to rest again.”

Jihoon hums in agreement, and Daniel takes it as a sign that he’s going to try to go to sleep. 

He can’t even bring himself to go to sleep – much less Jihoon. 

For the past few months, Daniel hasn’t been able to fall asleep naturally. Every time he tries to take a quick nap, he’s suddenly struck by the fear that someone is watching him, waiting to take him out. Most of the time, it’s the exhaustion that takes over – and Daniel blacks out after.

“Can’t sleep,” Jihoon says after a few minutes. Daniel can hear some shuffling and infers that Jihoon isn’t in the lying down position anymore. “You can go to sleep, I’ll stay here.”

Daniel shakes his head in disagreement; he knows his body too well, there’s no way he’s getting any sleep tonight. He sits up and faces Jihoon.

“Well…” Daniel ponders over it for a little while. “It probably won’t take too long for the next dare to come. Let’s talk while waiting. I’ll ask you a question, and you can ask me one in return after. Deal?”

Jihoon rips open a packet of strawberry marshmallows. (He has good taste, Daniel thinks.)

“That would be great,” Jihoon says enthusiastically, popping a marshmallow into his mouth.

“I’ll start,” Daniel volunteers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Do you guys pour the cereal or milk first?” Jaehwan asks, a sheepish grin spreading across his cheeks. He reaches into the packet of barbeque chips they have laid in the middle of their small circle.

Minhyun groans audibly, and Jonghyun stifles a laugh. 

“Really, Jaehwan? Is that really what you want to know?” Daniel sighs. “I’m definitely a cereal first kind of man.”

“Me too,” Minhyun volunteers his answer after Daniel does, although he doesn’t seem too enthusiastic about it. “What kind of loser pours the milk first anyway? It’s not logical.”

Daniel hums in agreement and Jaehwan offers a short ‘yeah’ in response as well when they realise that Jonghyun is awfully quiet. Usually, the oldest is quiet, but for some reason, he looks guilty as if he’s told a lie.

“Hyung,” Jaehwan begins slowly. “Don’t tell me… _you_ pour the milk first?”

The way Jonghyun hangs his head low in embarrassment is enough of an indication to the group of friends and they simultaneously erupt in laughter.

“What?” Jonghyun argues, aggrieved. “I’m just one of those people that pour the milk first, what’s so wrong with that?”

“It’s fine,” Minhyun says as he pats Jonghyun on the shoulder good-naturedly. “We accept you for who you are.”

Meanwhile, Jaehwan is still complaining about how he has to quit their team earlier than he thinks because he refuses to be stuck with a teammate who has _the audacity_ to pour the milk before the cereal.

That is, until Minhyun reminds him that Jaehwan would have never made it this far if it weren’t for them. And that shuts Jaehwan up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel doesn’t think the cereal question will stick well with Jihoon, and racks his brain for a perfect question to ask.

“Tick-tock,” Jihoon says, tapping on his wrist. “The question chance expires in 10 seconds.”

“Fine,” Daniel concedes defeat. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Jihoon isn’t expecting that question to come out of Daniel’s mouth; it shows from the way his eyes grow a little wider in surprise and the way his eyes look around nervously for a possible escape route.

Finally, Jihoon smiles.

“After I kissed you twice? I better not have a boyfriend. I think he’d be pretty pissed.”

“Oh, right,” Daniel remembers. There’s no way someone attached would kiss him with that much passion. God, it felt good kissing Jihoon. He wants to do it again, if he can.

 _That’s good_ , Daniel thinks.

“What was that?” Jihoon replies. 

Daniel realises too late that he’s let the habit of speaking his thoughts come to light again.

“Nothing,” Daniel says quickly, hoping Jihoon didn’t catch it. “Your turn.”

Daniel waits for Jihoon to think of a question to ask. He doesn’t know why his heart races so fast while waiting for Jihoon – maybe it’s the anticipation or excitement of this relationship escalating into something more.

“Is Daniel your real name?” 

Daniel groans internally at the less than climatic question, but doesn’t let his disappointment show.

“No, but I’m not telling you my real name right now.”

“Why?”

The real reason Daniel changed his name was because many people around him couldn’t pronounce it. He’d decided to go by Daniel when he joined Nerve 4 years ago.

The name Kang Daniel had stuck to him like an identity. It was impossible to think of a life beyond Nerve 4 years ago, just like how Daniel can’t think of what life would be if he isn’t known as Kang Daniel anymore.

Instead of explaining this to Jihoon, Daniel just smiles.

“I’ll tell you when we win this game.”

Jihoon doesn’t seem satisfied with his answer, and he frowns.

“We can’t win this game.”

“What?”

When Jihoon smiles at him, it’s a sad one and it drives invisible knives right into his chest.

“You and me both know, there can only be one winner.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel knows there can be only one winner of Nerve every year – he’s known this ever since he started playing.

Yet, he finds himself unable to leave Minhyun, Jonghyun and Jaehwan.

It started with Minhyun helping Daniel up when he was injured from a dare. He’d then offered Daniel to join him for a little while.

“I’m lonely,” Minhyun had said while helping Daniel bandage his right arm. “Can’t we forget this game and be friends, even if it’s for a little while?”

And so, the duo finds Jonghyun. Three isn’t a crowd, and Jaehwan joins them along the way.

They help each other through dares, and the watchers love seeing the four of them together.

They were nicknamed The Fearless Four.

At first, Daniel was innocent. He’d thought the watchers loved them for their display of friendship and loyalty towards each other in the cruel Nerve world.

He had to learn the hard way – the watchers only wanted to see how they betrayed each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel swallows nervously, because he can’t refuse Jihoon’s statement, At the same time, he doesn’t want Jihoon to think he’s going to abandon him along the way.

Daniel is past that point. He can’t leave Jihoon behind, even if he wants to.

He knows he’s getting attached again, and knows even better how this is going to end.

Someone is going to get hurt.

“I don’t want to think about that now,” Daniel says, his hand reaching over to find Jihoon’s ice cold ones. He holds Jihoon’s hand tight, hoping to transfer some of his heat to the other boy. “For now, let’s do whatever we can together, alright?”

Jihoon nods slowly, not wanting to look at Daniel.

When Daniel takes a closer look at the boy that is so close, yet so far away from him he already decides on something. Even if he isn’t aware of it yet, he’s going to make sure that the person that gets hurt isn’t going to be Jihoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon stays like that with Daniel for a while. It’s a strange feeling – to be wide awake at night.

The rest of the world is sound asleep, but you’re awake, fully aware of everything around you. It makes one sentimental, it makes one reminisce about the past and the present.

He wonders if Guanlin and his mother are doing well. He’s already made the transfer of his current winnings to Guanlin’s bank account, and hopes his brother is protecting the family well with it.

When his brain finally starts to slow down, Jihoon unconsciously leans into Daniel’s chest for comfort.

“Sleep,” Daniel says, stroking his hair.

And sleep he does.

Jihoon vaguely feels Daniel’s lips being pressed to his forehead as he begins to drift off into sleep land – but doesn’t say a word about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon wakes up to Daniel shaking his shoulder lightly. He opens his eyes halfway, and closes them again when he sees that nothing is the matter.

“If you don’t wake up I’m going to have to kiss you until you do,” Daniel says jokingly.

“I’d much rather you do that,” Jihoon manages to say in his half-awake state.

However, all he gets in return is a low chuckle from Daniel.

“Maybe later,” Daniel says. “You have a new dare, we have to get going now, silly.”

Jihoon quickly takes a look at his phone, and sure enough, there is a new dare greeting him on his screen. It never fails to make his stomach turn; and he wonders if Daniel still gets the nerves whenever he receives a new dare.

After all, isn’t 4 years in this game supposed to make you fearless?

 

**For $400: Get a tattoo**

 

“Okay, wow,” Jihoon marvels as he takes in a deep breath.

It’s nothing life-threatening; but very much out of his comfort zone. He’s never liked the thought of having something inked onto his body forever.

How is it that the watchers know where to hit him where it hurts?

“Shall we go?” Daniel suggests. “I know a friend that could do this for you.”

Jihoon isn’t going to back out just because he’s been afraid of this his entire life – this game is about challenging his limits; so that’s exactly what he’s going to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon doesn’t expect anyone to answer when Daniel knocks on the door of “Ji’s Ink” in the middle of the night, but isn’t surprised when someone does indeed come to the door. He’s seen worse things tonight to be shocked that Daniel’s friend would agree to giving Jihoon a tattoo at 2 in the morning.

“Hey, hyung,” Daniel greets the older man. 

Unlike the stereotypical tattoo artist, this man doesn’t have a trace of ink on him. In fact, Jihoon would have never guessed this man was a tattoo artist if he bumped onto him on the streets.

Even though it’s late, the man doesn’t forget to smile.

“Niel,” he greets Daniel, the familiar term of endearment rolling off his tongue easily. “I knew you would come.”

“I always come back to you, hyung,” Daniel replies, wrapping the other man in a hug. He then introduces Jihoon, “This is Park Jihoon. And this is my long-time friend, Jisung hyung.”

Jihoon bows respectfully to the man that now has a name.

“Come in,” Jisung offers, “It’s cold today. Would you guys like some hot chocolate?”

Jihoon would in fact, love some hot chocolate. He nods enthusiastically in response, not bothering to think about being subtle during first meetings at all. Jisung disappears to the back of the store and returns with a tray of three cups of hot chocolate.

The drink warms Jihoon up, and he doesn’t feel too afraid of conquering his next dare anymore.

“So,” Jisung says, “Do you have any idea what kind of a tattoo you want?”

“I’ve never thought about it until half an hour ago,” Jihoon admits. “Do you have any recommendations?”

Jisung laughs, but Jihoon doesn’t feel insulted.

“You talk like you’re at a café, but I like that,” Jisung says, passing a few books to Jihoon. “Most of my customers come here knowing what they want; but I think you’ll find something you like in here.”

“Or you could let me design one for you!” Daniel offers from the other side of the room. He’s busy looking at the artworks Jisung has hung up around the store.

“I don’t know,” Jihoon ponders over Daniel’s offer. “I feel like you’d tattoo something stupid onto me - like a bag of potato chips.”

“Hey!” Daniel’s protest rises across Jisung’s laughter. “You would love to have a bag of potato chips tattooed onto your back forever.”

Jihoon ignores Daniel’s pleas and chooses to look through the book Jisung has given him. There aren’t any that catch his eye. 

A dragon is too suggestive – and it's too big; Jihoon wants to minimize the time he spends under the needle as possible.

Flowers are too cliché, and he doesn’t feel like any of the designs stick well with him. He isn’t very sure what exactly it is that he wants tattooed onto himself forever, so he just flips through the pages absentmindedly.

“You know,” Daniel says as he rests his chin on Jihoon’s shoulder from behind. “You can trust me to design a tattoo for you. I was planning to enter a design course in college anyway.”

“Really?” Jihoon smiles, turning his head to that his lips are a few centimetres away from Daniel’s. “Can I trust you not to make me look like a fool?”

Daniel pecks Jihoon’s lips, catching him off guard. 

Daniel grabs the book from Jihoon’s hands and says. “Sure. Just wait here.”

He then turns to walk away, then Jihoon grabs his arm.

“Wait.”

“Any last requests?” Daniel smirks.

Jihoon hesitates. He does have an idea of something he wants on him. He just doesn’t know how to illustrate it out.

 

“Give me something to remember you by.”

 

He doesn’t know what’s going to happen after this game ends. Jihoon isn’t even sure if he’s going to win, because he knows he’s nowhere near first place right now. 

Most of all, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen between him and Daniel when this game ends. The future is uncertain – Jihoon is fully aware that they might go on their separate ways. 

For now, he wants to hold onto Daniel.

After this ends, he just wants something to remember Daniel by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! thank you so much for all the overwhelming support and love as always <3
> 
> good news! school's out till the 2nd week of jan 2018 for me which means more regular updates! you can expect daily updates/once every two days until school reopens for me :)
> 
> not so good news! i'm taking a break on holiday and i'll only be back earliest next saturday/sunday. hopefully on this break i get some time to have a good rest and come back with better ideas!
> 
> until then please take care of yourselves!!
> 
> (also this is a very new genre i'm attempting so i really appreciate every piece of feedback/comments you guys give me!)


	4. fly high

Daniel’s mind is at a standstill when he actually sits down and thinks about what kind of tattoo he should design for Jihoon. Before, he’d thought of just using the initials of his real name, but isn’t sure if Jihoon would appreciate Daniel’s name on his skin forever.

_“Give me something to remember you by."_

“What does that even mean?” Daniel groans, pen in his hand. He feels a warm hand caressing his shoulder as Jisung takes a seat beside him, giving the same comforting smile he’d seen two years ago.

“You must really like him,” Jisung muses, looking over the crossed-out designs on the paper he’d given to Daniel. “Otherwise you would never spend so long making a decision.”

Daniel ponders over what Jisung says. A part of him wants to refute, tell his friend that there’s absolutely nothing going on between him and Jihoon. 

But he’d be lying. Daniel really likes Jihoon, and he can’t even place a finger on why.

“Am I doing the wrong thing, hyung?” Daniel gulps nervously. “Y-you know what happened to Jaehwan and Jonghyun when we were friends.”

Jisung raises an eyebrow in surprise, and Daniel understands. He’s never been the one to bring up the topic of his friends, and thank god Jisung has been sensitive enough to never press Daniel to talk about it. However, there’s a lump in his throat that he just can’t get rid of no matter how much he tries; and maybe, just maybe, Jisung can help him out.

“Niel,” Jisung lowers his voice after looking back at Jihoon, who is busy looking at the pictures in the other room. “Are you still blaming yourself for what happened?”

 

Of course he is, how can he not?

 

“It is my fault,” Daniel insists, blinking back the tears that have unconsciously formed in his eyes. “I don’t want Jihoon to face the same fate.”

Jisung nods slowly. “Listen, whatever happened that day? It wasn’t your fault. Neither is this thing you have going on with Jihoon. Talk to him, if he wants to stay, he’ll stay.”

What Jisung says makes sense, it always has. Daniel just can’t bring himself to believe it. Sometimes, when he closes his eyes, he can still hear Jaehwan’s hysterical laughter and he can still see Jonghyun’s soft smile as he watches them from a distance away.

“I’ll think about it, thanks hyung,” Daniel says. He finishes his design quickly and hands it over to Jisung’s waiting hands. “Take care of him for me. It’s his first time.”

Daniel is thankful for Jisung; for not leaving him in the lurch even though he has every reason to. Jisung has trusted him and his decisions for three years, so Daniel knows without a doubt that Jihoon will be in good hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon jumps slightly when a hand pats his right shoulder and a finger pokes his right cheek right after he turns to see who it is. Of course, it’s Daniel; grinning brightly when he sees Jihoon falling for his childish jokes.

“I’m done, Jisung hyung is waiting for you inside,” Daniel says, pointing into the room where he was with Jisung before. 

Jihoon calms his nervous heart and hopes it doesn’t show on his face that he’s terrified. Never in his life has he thought of getting inked; he’s sure his mother is going to kill him when she finds out, but that’s the least of his worries right now. He thinks about Guanlin, and how he’s probably going to be so excited about his new tattoo.

Right, he’s doing this for his family.

“I’m ready,” Jihoon announces as he walks into the room, where Jisung is busy cleaning and preparing his instruments.

“Good,” Jisung smiles. “Where would you like to get the tattoo on?”

Yet another thing that Jihoon has never thought of before.

“If it’s not too big, maybe on my left collarbone?” Jihoon suggests. 

Jisung makes a surprised noise as he glances at Daniel; who looks equally shocked at Jihoon’s choice. 

“Is there something wrong with that?” he asks.

“Of course not,” Jisung assures after Daniel puts a finger to his lips which Jihoon infers must mean “I’ll tell him later” and lets Jihoon take a seat. Jihoon’s heart is thumping as Jisung does his last checks and hands his phone over to Daniel, who is supposed to record this down for him.

“Don’t cry,” Daniel teases. “You have 5,000 people watching.”

“5,000?” Jihoon repeats, shocked. The last time he checked, he’d had a little less than 500 people watching him. Ever since he’d teamed up with Daniel, the number had multiplied by 10 times. It’s crazy to think that there are so many people watching him, and it creeps Jihoon out to think that there might be someone he knows watching as well.

“I’m ready,” Jisung says. “You have to take your shirt off if you want me to do it on your collarbone.”

Daniel whistles loudly, making Jihoon blush as he slips out of his shirt easily.

“You should see how fast your watcher count is increasing,” Daniel comments, then adds, “I’m a little jealous, I don’t want so many people looking at you like this.”

“Shut up,” Jihoon says, throwing his shirt at Daniel. 

“This might hurt,” Jisung warns as he leans in to start. Jihoon takes one last deep breath and grips onto the edges of the chair to prepare for the pain to hit him.

Jihoon would be lying if he said it didn’t hurt. It did, he could feel the needles piercing into his skin every second and his bottom lip is numbing from biting too hard on it. He feels the needle being lifted from his skin for a moment, and opens his eyes.

“You okay?” Daniel asks, concern ridden all over his face. 

“Had better days,” Jihoon groans, trying to sneak a peek at what Jisung has finished so far when Daniel stops him. “Hey! Look at it only when Jisung hyung is done!”

“Alright, alright,” Jihoon relents. Jisung chuckles, and begins again. This time, it hurts just a little less. Jihoon tries to take his mind off the pain by thinking about how happy his mother would be once he could pay the debt collectors back. 

And Guanlin wouldn’t have to live in fear and guilt anymore. 

“It’s finished,” Jisung says, waking Jihoon up from his thoughts. “Go look at it in the mirror.”

Jihoon can’t tell by the grin on Daniel’s face if he’s satisfied with how the tattoo turned out or if he’s just been made a joke in front of 5,000 people. Daniel follows Jihoon to the mirror and watches Jihoon’s expression closely as he scrutinizes his new tattoo.

The area around his collarbone is an angry red, but Jihoon can still make out the silhouette of two birds with their wings spread out. Under the two birds are smaller letters;

**PJH & KEG**

“KEG?” Jihoon says out loud. “Are those the initials of your real name?”

Daniel nods, whispering, “Not going to tell you what it is yet, though.”

Jihoon smiles, he loves it. He’d wanted something to remember this day and Daniel by; and this is the perfect way to do it.

“Want me to show you something?” Daniel asks.

Jihoon nods, and Daniel proceeds to take his shirt off. Before Jihoon’s eyes can feast on Daniel’s rock-hard abs or tan skin, he spots something on Daniel’s left collarbone.

It’s the exact same two birds, in the same position.

“Wow,” Jihoon gushes, suddenly embarrassed at the fact that they both have matching tattoos. 

“I know,” Daniel says enthusiastically. “I was shocked when you picked your left collarbone. I suppose this is fate?”

Jihoon knows Daniel means the last part of his sentence in a teasing manner, but he can’t help but wish that fate really did bring the two of them together. They put on their shirts, and Jihoon sees the $400 being deposited into his bank account.

“I’ll wait outside for you,” Daniel says when he catches Jisung’s eye and walks outside.

Jihoon walks up to Jisung and says, “Thank you. The tattoo is beautiful.”

“You’re very welcome,” Jisung says and suddenly takes Jihoon’s hands in his. “Remember to trust Niel. He’s a good boy who has bad things happened to him. I think you’ll do just fine with him.”

After Seongwoo and Minhyun have said nasty things about Daniel to his face, it’s nice to finally hear good things about Daniel from someone as trustworthy as Jisung. 

“I trust him,” Jihoon insists. He knows Daniel is hiding something from him; but he’s sure it’s more for his own good. He lowers his gaze, “I want to ask him what’s wrong, but he’s a little… distant sometimes.”

Jisung nods and says, “Ask him what the two birds on his collarbone mean to him.”

With one last hug, Jihoon bids Jisung goodbye. Jisung’s worrying gaze lingers for a moment when he looks at Jihoon, but is replaced with a smile immediately.

“Stay safe,” Jisung says to the two as they take their places in Daniel’s truck again.

“Bye hyung!” Daniel waves goodbye one final time before speeding off into the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two birds on Daniel’s collarbone meant everything to him. He’d decided to get the tattoo early this year. It wasn’t a dare; the watchers knew Daniel was afraid of bigger things than inking his skin.

He’d gone to Jisung’s tattoo store and told his friend exactly what he wanted, and Jisung didn’t even had to ask why; he agreed immediately.

 

The two birds represented Jaehwan and Jonghyun – the very two people Daniel would love forever; and who he knew were flying high in the sky right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**For $600: Go to Daehwi’s house**

“Daehwi?” Jihoon repeats. He knows Daehwi, he would even consider them pretty good friends, even if they don’t talk or hang out much. 

Daehwi is Woojin’s best friend, which is really how Jihoon met the other boy in the first place. 

“Any idea why the watchers would want you to be there?” Daniel asks as Jihoon punches Daehwi’s address into the GPS. Jihoon shakes his head – he’s only been to Daehwi’s house once, because Woojin had dragged him to attend a party.

“ _Live a little,”_ Woojin had told him.

The party was terrible, Jihoon hated everything about it. 

“College student Kang Daniel would be a party animal,” Daniel says, smiling to himself. “This is going to be fun.”

Of course – Daehwi was probably having a party right now; which was why the watchers would want him to be there. It would be torture for Jihoon; to show up suddenly with Daniel next to him and draw so much attention to himself.

And God forbid Woojin to be there as well. Jihoon didn’t leave on a good note; he’s sure Woojin is still pissed at him for taking off like that.

“Fun,” Jihoon mumbles, focusing his vision on the road ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon has to hand it over to Daehwi. It’s ass-o-clock in the morning, but the party has just started. He can hear the blaring music from where Daniel has parked his truck. For a moment, he wonders how no one has called the cops yet; then remembers that Daehwi is a rich kid who owns this entire plot of land.

“I feel sick,” Jihoon says as they near Daehwi’s house. He doesn’t mean he’s gotten a cold; he just feels sick to the stomach, like something bad is going to happen.

“You’re going to be fine,” Daniel assures. “You have me!”

Jihoon doesn’t have the heart to tell Daniel that he’s part of the reason Jihoon feels so nervous.

“You’re afraid of getting judged,” Daniel comments. “These are all people from your school, am I right?”

Jihoon nods nervously. By now, the news that he was playing Nerve would have already spread throughout the entire school. There was no doubting it; he had already destroyed the reputation he’d so carefully constructed for himself.

Suddenly, Daniel grabs his hands and intertwines his fingers with Jihoon’s.

“Fuck them,” Daniel says. “Let’s show them who you really are. Ready?”

Jihoon stands frozen with Daniel outside Daehwi’s door and raises his hands to knock, then figures the music is too loud for anyone to hear the knocking on the door, and settles for swinging the door open instead.

_Badass, right?_

A few familiar faces turn in confusion when the door swings open, all wondering who the visitor announcing his presence in such a powerful way is, and break out into smiles when they recognise Jihoon – and the man he’s holding hands so tightly with.

Then, a roar of cheers erupt and phones are shoved into Jihoon’s and Daniel’s faces. He tries ignoring the flash and focuses on looking for Woojin.

The crowd spreads like Moses and the Red Sea to reveal Woojin and Daehwi standing at one corner of the room.

“Hey,” Jihoon says when he’s finally close enough to talk to them.

“Jihoon,” Woojin says, his expression serious. “You have to stop playing this game before you get hurt.”

“I’m fine, aren’t I?” Jihoon reasons, somehow saying it more for himself than for Woojin to believe. “Plus, Daniel is helping me. I’m going to be okay.”

Woojin glares at Daniel who is standing behind Jihoon. 

“You don’t even know who he is,” Woojin sighs. “And yet, you trust him more than you trust me?”

Jihoon feels Daniel’s grip tighten angrily, and shoots him a look to tell Daniel that “I’ll handle this”.

“Tell me who he is then,” Jihoon says through clenched teeth. He’s tired of everyone talking about Daniel like he’s bad luck, like he’s going to harm Jihoon. Seongwoo, Minhyun and Woojin had no idea what they were talking about.

“You seem to know him a lot better than I do,” Jihoon snaps. “Why don’t you say it to my face? Tell me who Kang Daniel is.”

Woojin remains calm, he always has been the calm one when they argue. Jihoon hates how nothing he says ever gets to Woojin.

“Can we get some privacy?” Woojin looks pointedly at Daniel.

“Fine.”

Woojin turns and goes upstairs, and Jihoon prepares to follow him when Daniel grabs his arm.

“Jihoon,” Daniel says in a hushed whisper. “I know I haven’t told you everything about me. That doesn’t mean what others say about me is true. They’ll twist my words, they don’t even know what happened that night-“

He can tell that Daniel is about to start panicking, so he cups Daniel’s face in his hands, not caring whether everyone in the house is staring at them or not. 

“Daniel, listen to me, shh- it’s going to be okay,” Jihoon says calmly, making sure to look into Daniel’s eyes as he says it. “I’ll trust you no matter what. I’m just going to tell Woojin that you’re not a bad person, okay?”

Slowly, Jihoon feels Daniel’s breaths get more steady.

“Wait here for me?” Jihoon suggests.

Finally, Daniel nods. 

Jihoon decides to lean in, and gives Daniel a light peck on his cheek as assurance that he’s not going to run away, and bounds up the stairs to look for Woojin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He’s calmed down a bit since their confrontation downstairs, and Jihoon finally feels like he can have a proper conversation with Woojin without blowing up.

“So tell me,” Jihoon says when he enters the room Woojin is waiting in. “What’s your deal with Daniel?”

“It’s not just with Daniel,” Woojin sighs. “It’s with this entire game. Jihoon, people are getting hurt as we speak because of this stupid game. People have died! You’re doing things you’re not comfortable with, you even got a tattoo.”

Jihoon’s fingers instinctively brush over his tattoo protectively. 

“Fine. I wasn’t comfortable before,” Jihoon admits. “But I need the money. Guanlin is working at a convenience store because of his shitty dad, and my mother is bending her back in front of others just to repay the debt her shitty husband left behind!”

Jihoon hates how he cries when he gets angry, and wipes his tears away angrily.

“There are better choices you could make,” Woojin reasons. “A normal part-time job sounds better than playing this stupid game.”

“You’re a watcher, aren’t you?” Jihoon asks, his anger rising again. “You’re also one of the reasons this game is harming me! You’re contributing to this community!”

“So now it’s my fault as well? Park Jihoon, snap out of it!”

Jihoon has never seen Woojin lose his temper. He’s afraid, really, to see Woojin finally lose his cool.

“This game is toxic,” Woojin adds. “Why do you think the watchers asked you to come here? They knew we’d fight like this. Nerve destroys your life. You think you’re winning when you’re losing everything around you. You think Daniel really cares about you?”

“Leave Daniel out of this,” Jihoon growls. 

Jihoon can’t deny that everything Woojin says make sense. His dare only told him to come to the party; it never told him what exactly to do. The watchers wanted to watch Jihoon destroy his friendships.

“Daniel, Daniel, Daniel,” Woojin chants. “Jihoon, you don’t understand. He’s killed people.”

When Woojin finally drops the bomb, Jihoon has nothing to say to refute. There’s a huge lump in his throat and for some reason, his voice can’t come out. His heart feels heavy and his head starts to hurt.

“T-that’s not true,” Jihoon mumbles, now sounding unsure. “Daniel would never k-kill anyone.”

“Really?” Woojin asks, cocking his head to the side. “For the million dollars grand price, I think anyone would do anything if they were crazy enough.”

“Daniel isn’t crazy!” Jihoon lashes out at Woojin, then steps back a second later, shocked at how fast he jumped in to defend Daniel.

But he’d promised to believe in Daniel. And he’s going to uphold that promise to the end.

“And he didn’t kill anyone,” Jihoon continues, his voice more steady now. He knows it deep down, that Daniel would never kill anyone, even if he had to win. Daniel would never resort to something so beneath him. “I believe in him.”

“You two have a lot of talking to do,” Woojin sighs.

Just then, Jihoon’s phone rings to save him from this situation. It’s not Daniel, and Jihoon feels his heart drop for the second time.

 

**For $1,000: Go to the rooftop.**

 

“Don’t do it,” Woojin warns. “You can bail and stop now.”

“And forgo all my money?” Jihoon challenges. “I don’t think so, Woojin. You’re my friend, but I don’t think you understand me right now. I’m sorry.”

With that, Jihoon presses on “Accept dare” and slams the door shut behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crowd from the party has already gathered at the uppermost level of Daehwi’s house, which isn’t a good sign for Jihoon. He looks around for someone to explain the situation to him when Daniel pulls him in for a hug from behind.

“Hey,” Jihoon says into the crook of Daniel’s neck. “What’s going on?”

Daniel lifts his head to meet Jihoon’s eyes; and in that moment Jihoon knows he’ll never believe that Daniel would kill someone unless he said it himself. 

“I saw people setting that up, and knew it had something to do with you,” Daniel’s voice trails off as he gazes towards the balcony.

And Jihoon sees it; the ladder stretching from the balcony to the other balcony of the next house.

“Shit,” Jihoon gasps as he moves closer to see how far they up from the ground. The ball in the pit of his stomach only starts to grow bigger – they’re about 5 stories up, but it looks terrifying now that Jihoon knows what the watchers want him to do.

“You d-don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Daniel whispers. “It’s dangerous. Like, really, really, dangerous. You could die.”

“I’m going to do it,” Jihoon insists as he hands his phone over to Daniel.

He doesn’t know where he’s gotten this burst of courage. Maybe it’s from talking with Woojin from before or the want to believe that Daniel isn’t as dangerous as everyone says he is.

After a few seconds, Daniel agrees, “Okay. Take your time, go slow. The ladder is going to hold your weight, just make sure you don’t slip. I’ll be waiting for you on the other side, okay?”

Jihoon nods, and Daniel disappears from the crowd. Woojin is right, they have a lot of talking to do; which is why he’s going to complete this dare as quickly as he can. 

“Park Jihoon.”

Jihoon turns around to find Woojin looking straight at him, then at the ladder he’s about to climb on.

“Are you fucking serious right now?”

Jihoon flinches at his friend’s use of profanity. Although he wants to say something equally spiteful back to Woojin, it isn’t the time. He sees Daniel appear at the other side of the ladder and nod to Jihoon, as if saying, “You can go whenever you want.”

“Look, Woojin,” Jihoon grabs his friends by the shoulder. “I might seem really crazy to you right now, but I promise you I know what I’m doing. I trust Daniel, and I trust myself. Can’t you trust me just this once too?”

After a few seconds that feel like hours to Jihoon, Woojin nods ever so slightly. That alone is enough to bring a smile to Jihoon’s face and for his confidence to grow again.

“Good. Hold my hand,” Jihoon instructs his friend as he climbs onto the balcony’s railings. Woojin grabs Jihoon’s hand quickly to steady him. He doesn’t let go until Jihoon goes on all fours on the ladder. 

“Thanks, Woojin,” Jihoon says, “I knew I could count on you.”

“Go slow,” is all Woojin says in response.

Jihoon can feel all the eyes on him as he makes his first move. He hears the ladder creaking beneath him, and his eyes dart below. God, he’s so high up.

He doesn’t have the biggest fear of heights, but anyone on a ladder five storeys away from dying would feel frightened for sure.

“Jihoon, don’t look down,” Daniel calls out from the other side. 

Jihoon slowly lifts his head to look at Daniel.

“Good, keep your eyes on me,” Daniel encourages Jihoon. “Don’t worry, you’re doing well. You’re going to make it. Just a little more and you’re here.”

And Jihoon follows what Daniel says; he keeps his eyes on Daniel as he begins to move his right hand forward, then his left leg. Followed by his left hand, and finishing up with his right leg. Repeat.

Daniel is saying something, and Jihoon can hear Woojin shouting something behind him, but his heart is beating so loudly, he can’t hear any of that.

When Jihoon feels his hand grab the railing of the balcony of the other side, he lets Daniel pull him over and pull him into his embrace. Jihoon’s legs have lost all their strength. Luckily, Daniel is there to hold him up by his waist.

“You did well,” Daniel says.

If the Jihoon coming to this party was terrified of being seen by people, the present Jihoon couldn’t care less.

Jihoon smiles and captures Daniel’s lips in front of everyone’s eyes.

During the kiss, Jihoon feels Daniel’s fingers brushing over his left collarbone, over his fresh tattoo. 

“You ruined it,” Jihoon says when he feels Daniel smiling into the kiss again. 

“Sorry,” Daniel replies, burying his face into Jihoon’s hair to hide his red cheeks. “Should we get going?”

Jihoon hears people cheering from the other side of the balcony, and Woojin is smiling at him with his snaggletooth showing as well. The pride in Jihoon’s heart grows, and knows everything between him and Woojin is cool now.

“Let’s go,” Jihoon affirms, running out of the house with Daniel’s hands tightly clasped in his.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Wow, I’m in 5th place,” Jihoon marvels as he checks on the leader board when he gets into the truck with Daniel again. His watcher count has increased to almost 10,000 now. It reminds him of Seongwoo, they would be of similar watcher count now.

Jihoon wonders where Seongwoo is. As much as he detests the other boy for being annoying, he can’t help but worry about leaving him back there.

Daniel is first on the leader board, and Jihoon knows he’s probably going to win the game this year.

‘Hwang Minhyun’ is second, and Jihoon shudders as he remembers Minhyun’s piercing gaze from earlier. 

Something else catches Jihoon’s attention. When he clicks on the profile at fourth place, a scream catches in his throat when he sees a familiar lanky figure being engulfed by flames.

It’s Seongwoo, looking desperate for a way out of the mess he’s created. At the bottom of Seongwoo’s profile, Jihoon sees the words:

 

**For $5K: Set fire to the abandoned house in the woods.**

 

Stupid, stupid, stupid is all Jihoon can think of as he watches Seongwoo helplessly run around from a watcher’s livestream of this moment. 

_Why isn’t anyone jumping in to help in?_

“Quick, we have to go to Seongwoo,” Jihoon says as he taps on Daniel’s shoulders impatiently. “You can find out where this is, right? Go, now! He’s going to die if we don’t save him!”

As terrifying as it is to watch a livestream of someone he knows being on the brink of death, Jihoon can’t tear his eyes away.

“But Ji-“

“Daniel! We have to go **now!** ” Jihoon shouts, not ready to listen to any of Daniel’s excuses. Without another word, Daniel speeds off.

Jihoon can only pray that someone jumps in to save Seongwoo before they arrive or it’s going to be too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliffhanger! :D we're getting close to the reveal, do stay tuned!
> 
> also, happy 2018! i hope all of your new years are blessed with health and happiness, thank you for making 2017 one of the best years for me; it was the year i started putting my works online, and you guys have been such a great encouragement and motivation for me to keep on writing. please continue reading my stuff in 2018 as well <3
> 
> comments r always appreciated and loved by me!!
> 
> until next time! :)

**Author's Note:**

> WOW okay so silver hair daniel was so not the inspiration for this story (btw today is his birthday aka why i decided to post this today! happy birthday to our prince kang daniel!!)
> 
> again thank youuu all so much for your love and support please do leave comments as to what you think about this new au?
> 
> things are going to get exciting for sure, so see you next update :D
> 
> take care!! xoxo bapaldeul <3


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